Evangelion: In the shadow of the Beast
by Unit 05
Summary: Tanus Harrab was learning to be a NERV tech, when he was summoned by the UN to pilot a gaint robot. He agreed and now he has to battle not only invading giants but also the ghosts of his past. A Fic set in the EVA Universe. New Pilots, Evas and Angels.
1. The Trump Card

Chapter one: The Trump Card

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"This isn't good Ikari. The committee has the upper hand. "

"Indeed."

"They can change the script at will. That's bad news for us."

"We need a trump card, something outside of their control. Have we found any more pilots?"

"At least two dozen level four candidates, but they all come from SEELE controlled areas. Except one."

"Continue."

"He has already been acquired by the branch in London, as you know, the base commander there is distrustful of the committee. He has assured me that SEELE have no influence inside his facility."

"It is a small research centre, it is beneath their notice."

"True. That is why he was able to secure a fourth level candidate without incident."

"Very well, name this candidate the Fourth child and have him brought here."

"Will the committee object?"

"I'll handle the committee."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Control panels in the depths of the facility were often left alone until a critical fault brought the attention of the science staff then that of the maintenance crew, this forgotten steams were widely accepted as temperamental at best, this one managed to emit a few sparks and a shrill beeping before falling dark.

I cursed under my breath and patted across my tool harness and removed a flat bladed screwdriver, the maintenance tunnels that crisscrossed the base were barely large enough for me and made movement difficult, and so I wondered how the rest of the crew managed to traverse the cramped passages.

I was 14 years of age and only an apprentice tech, but I already knew how fix most minor problems and with the help of a full tech, A.K.A an "Orange Shirt", I could handle a few major malfunctions as well.

The radio in my headset crackled into life as I removed the faulty panel and flicked on the torch it contained to allow me to see the colour coded mess behind. I flicked it back off and relied on touch and memory as the batteries in the headsets would drain quickly with both radio and light enabled.

"Hey, Tanus. Can you hear me?" the voice of Sergeant Kelly cut through the static, my guardian and mentor in this dark, repetitive job.

"Yes Sergeant," I replied, my fingers probing the wires and circuit boards, the heavy insulated gloves I wore not hindering me in the slightest "it seems that the main data relay at junction E 26 has been fried, I'll splice a few wires together but we really need to replace it with a brand new one from stores."

"Good job lad, that'll make Dr Gent happy. He'll finally be able to run that test he's been droning on about for the past week."

"Anything for a quiet life, right Sergeant?" I replied, giving the offending object a gentle tug and feeling it come free instantly. I relit the torch to give it a quick once over. It was defiantly useless now.

"Hah! You know me too well lad, but that's not why I contacted you. It's the boss, he wants you in his office ASAP."

"Oh boy, did he say why?" I asked, tucking the relay into a pocket and twisting together the sparking wire ends with my other hand.

"No lad, but you'd better get going. The Iron Maiden is on the prowl."

"Roger," I sighed, replacing the panel and nodding to myself as it flicked back into life, "I'll meet you at junction F 23."

A few minutes later I emerged into the lights of F floor, the overweight chief of maintenance hauled me to my feet before my eyes had chance to adjust to the change. I felt his huge hands brush the worst of the muck from my coveralls.

"You're a good worker Tanus." Kelly said, roughly adjusting my cap and jerking my headpiece from its place, " I know I wouldn't be able to fit in there and with everyone else busy with the tests…"

"You needed someone small and gullible to craw through miles of cramped passageways to locate one burnt-out relay." I finished for him and handed over the small square of plastic.

"You're just so trusting Lad, and that's the truth." Said the Sergeant grinning like a predatory pumpkin. "I hardly have to do anything these days."

"Well, you still owe me one." I replied wiping the dirt from my face and returning the smile. "I'll go see what the major wants, it's probably just his office door sticking again."

"Aye. And I'd better get that relay replaced before the good doctor has a fit." Said Kelly as I walked towards the lift at the end of the corridor. "Once you're done with the Major, come back here. I have a easy job for you."

I gave him a mocking salute as the doors slid shut and the lift moved upwards.

For a few minutes I ascended, the lift humming softly, and I wondered what the Major really wanted to see me about; anyone of the maintenance team could fix his door. As the lowest ranking member, I was often given the most boring assignments, but it was unusual for him to pull me off an important job to do so. Normally I would find the request on the maintenance division's notice board, back in the crew room.

Could it be a disciplinary action? I wracked my brain trying to think of an offense I had committed that would warrant the Major's attention, staff matters were usual handled by the head of that department, Sergeant Kelly in my case, Doctor Gent for the science team, and Staff Sergeant Reynolds for the security. Major Stonewall handled the command and administration staff.

The lift came to a halt and a card reader, a cordless phone and a small display emerged from its niche the wall and informed me that LEVEL 4 Clearance was required to access the command level.

I lifted the phone and punched in a number everyone on base memorised, if only so they could run when they saw it on their pager, my clearance was only level 1 I needed someone to unlock it for me, and a feeling of dread washed over me as I entered the last digit. It was answered instantly.

"Captain Jones," said the female voice impatiently, "Who is this?"

"Ma'am, its Apprentice Technician Tanus Harrab, The Major wanted to speak with me." I replied nervously, the Major's assistant struck fear in everyone.

There was a pause while she checked with her CO then she came back on the line, it lasted several seconds longer than was comfortable, "Very well, I'll activate the lift." Then hung up.

I sighed and returned the phone to its cradle as the lift stared moving again.

Captain Lucy Jones' uncompromising approach to procedures, random inspections of all departments and an unfriendly demeanour had earned her the nickname "Iron Maiden". Major Stonewall used her as a threat for teams that failed to meet deadlines.

The lift doors opened with a hiss and I stepped out cautiously, suddenly aware of my dirty uniform, and how it would stand out here where spotless beige uniforms where the norm. I tried to approach the double doors at the other end of the hall with out being spotted by any of the command staff wandering about.

"Stop right there!" a voice rang out, echoing through the corridor, I nearly swallowed my tongue as Captain Jones appeared from the room I had just passed; her unnatural stealth was another reason the base staff feared her. I quickly came to attention and saluted.

She was an intimidating figure, unlike Sergeant Kelly in his permanently filthy overalls, her beige uniform was immaculate, her brown hair cut to regulation length, and the red beret of NERV placed perfectly on top of it. It clashed nicely with the oil-stained and badly creased orange coveralls and felt cap of my own uniform.

"Ma'am. Apprentice Technician Tanus Harrab reporting to Major Stonewall as ordered." I said, proud of my steady tone.

She walked in front of me and returned the salute, staring at me for a few seconds before speaking, "At ease Technician Harrab, I know why you are here and I also know that you where doing vital maintenance when you were summoned," she glanced at the oil stains disapprovingly before continuing, "Therefore I shall overlook the state of your uniform. This time."

"Thank you ma'am,"

"Dismissed, Technician."

"Yes ma'am, thank you."

I saluted and marched down the antechamber and knocked on the oak doors, the Iron Maiden disappeared, probably to ambush another unsuspecting tech.

"Enter."

I pushed the door open; noting distantly that it opened flawlessly and stepped inside.

The base commanders office was smaller than most visitors expect, enough room for his desk, a small sofa by one wall beneath framed photographs of his pervious postings, a cluttered bookcase by the other and a small rectangle of open space before the desk designed for a group of people to stand comfortably.

Major Stonewall was sat behind the desk speaking into a red cordless phone. That meant it was either a government official or someone further up NERV's ladder, the encryption on that one line was impressive, even in a facility that was geared towards secrecy.

I marched up to the desk and saluted. Major Stonewall glanced up briefly then motioned towards the sofa, concentrating on the speaker while tapping his fingers on the metal surface of his desk. I sat on the soft cushions gratefully, waiting for him to finish.

Like Captain Jones, his uniform was spotless and well kept, however his jacket was a deep red; the mark of a high-ranking officer given special duties, and the badge on his collar had two horizontal lines instead of the Captain's one. His beret was perched on top of his terminal, the golden triangle gleaming under the lights.

"I understand sir," he was saying, "I'll see to it personally. Yes, she arrived this morning. I assure you it will be no problem. She has already checked our database for all relevant records and I have made arrangements for the transfer. Good day Commander."

He replaced the phone into a panel in his desk which then slid closed. For a second he stared the patch on his desk, his lips moving silently before her remembered with a start that I was in the room

"One of the hazards of base command." he said, grinning at me, "Occasionally the people at the top like to know what we're spending their money on."

"So does that mean no pinball machine for our Crew room?" I asked, matching the Majors grin.

"Unfortunately the UN has denied us that vital piece of hardware." he said, standing up, " I suppose you want to know why I pulled you off a job and cruelly exposed you to the Iron Maiden?"

I nodded, "There's a relay in junction E 26 that has been giving the research team some hassle-"

Stonewall raised a hand to silence me, "that will not be your problem any longer," he said, rummaging through the files on his desk and passing one to me, "you've been transferred, to Tokyo 3."

"Tokyo 3?" I said as I took the file, the fact that it had my photo pinned to the front told me it was my personal records, the figure in his parade uniform looked nothing like I did now, for one thing he was only eleven, "That's NERV Central, why do they need me?"

"That's been classified at a higher level than my own. I don't know." The major said with a sigh, pressing the intercom button on his desk, "Captain, is our guest with you?"

"Yes sir. She just arrived from the Archive room."

"Please send her in."

The doors opened and a blonde haired woman in a white lab coat entered, walking like she owned not only the room, but the entire facility, she was carrying a sheaf of files like the one in my hand, I quickly got to my feet.

"This is Dr Ritsuko Akagi, head of NERV's Technical Division," said Stonewall, saluting her. I mimicked him. "She will explain the details to you."

Ritsuko returned our salutes with a slight bow, "Is this the boy?" she asked, despite the Japanese name she spoke without a trace of accent. As she spoke her eyes dancing over my face, she didn't linger, but I was left with the impression she already knew everything about me.

"Yes ma'am." Replied Stonewall.

"Pleased to meet you." She said to me, a slight smile of amusement crossed her face.

"Likewise, Doctor." I replied.

"Major, you may leave us."

"Yes ma'am. If you need anything don't hesitate to ask either myself or Captain Jones" he saluted again and left, giving me a reassuring smile on his way out.

I felt my unease rise, this woman must have been far superior than the major to have him banished from his own office.

When we were alone Ritsuko sat on the edge of the desk and produced a pen from a pocket. The change in her was immediate. Now she was all professionalism

"Just a few basic questions," She said, " First, what is your full name?"

"Tanus Martin Harrab. Ma'am" I replied,

Ritsuko made a note on one of the papers, "What is your date of birth?"

" 9/11/2000."

"Good. How long have you been employed by NERV?"

"Since I was eleven. Ma'am. I'm learning to be a member of the Maintenance division."

This was transcribed to the papers before she returned them to her folder.

"Good. That matches." I blinked but she didn't bother to explain further, "I think we can dispense with the formalities now." She riffled through her stack of files, "What have you heard about the attack on Tokyo 3?"

I shrugged, "mostly rumours, that the city was invaded by some kind of giant, and that a robot got forty three percent of a ratio or something. The news channels are all still arguing with each other about it."

Ritsuko chuckled to herself, brushing a strand of hair away from her face.

"That's the power of rumours. They can be closer to the truth then we may wish."

She stood up, walked to the door and pressed the lock button, I heard the security bars slide into place.

"What I am about to tell you is classified top secret." She whispered, so softly I almost missed it, "This _must not_ be repeated outside this room. "

"Err. Ok." A high-ranking official telling classified information to an apprentice tech, while banishing the base CO? That felt wrong to me.

She strode back to the desk and removed a file from her stack, this one was much studier than my personal data, and even had a coded lock. Ritsuko punched in a sequence of numbers as she spoke.

"There _was_ an attack by a giant on Tokyo 3, we call them the "Angels", conventional weapons and even N2 weapons had no effect, but we managed to defeat it using this."

She held up a metal skinned file. It was filled with technical specifications, most were blacked out, but what grabbed my attention were the pictures pinned at the top.

They showed me a purple giant, its eyes seemed to sear straight through mine. If the scale was correct it was at least thirty floors high.

"This is mankind's last defence against the Angels." Ritsuko was saying, I couldn't tear my eyes away from those green orbs, "the synthetic life form known as "Evangelion".

She closed the file; my mind was swimming with questions, so I grasped the first one that drifted close.

"Why are you telling _me_ this?"

Ritsuko removed yet another file from the pile as she answered.

"When you first joined NERV, you were given a full physical and mental examination, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, the Evangelions need fourteen year old children to pilot them, specifically they need to have certain brainwave patterns. Yours fell within those guidelines."

This only brought more questions to the surface.

"So you want me, a fourteen year old apprentice technician, to pilot that purple giant?"

"No," we gave me the new file, "We want you to pilot this one."

The file was similar to the first in that most details were blacked out. These pictures showed another machine, its armor was dark green one this time. Where the other had blared teeth, like a beast of myth, this one had armour plating. Only its eyes where visible, glowing a pale blue though a visor-like slit. It was also 30 floors high but seemed bulkier around the chest and body, as if the armor was thicker in certain points. I felt like I had seen it or something like it before.

"The choice to pilot is yours, of course," Ritsuko told me. "But we know that the Angel was not the last, and we need as many combat ready Evangelions or "Evas" as possible. At the moment we only have Unit One, the first one I showed you. If you accept, humanity's strength is doubled."

I collapsed back amongst the files that littered the sofa as I tried to understand the situation.

"You need _me_ to pilot a giant robot and defend humanity from huge invading creatures against whom even our most powerful weapons have no effect upon?"

"Evangelions are capable of destroying the Angels, we proved that in the last battle."

"But I'm just a tech! I don't know anything about combat!"

"Neither did Unit one's pilot, but we can train both of you so that piloting an Eva is second nature."

I considered my options. I could refuse and go back to my life crawling through small tunnels. Or I could accept and actually make a difference.

Something stirred in the back of my mind, a subtle suggestion that this would be the right thing to do.

"Okay. Count me in."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	2. The Call to Arms

Chapter 2: The Call to Arms

One week later.

I hate flying, not that I'm scared of heights, it's the fact that most airlines seem to forget that if a flight to Japan has a Mr Tanus Harrab on it, it's a fair bet that he would like his luggage to be on the same plane.

So it was a jetlagged, angry and slightly confused Englishman that stepped out of Tokyo 3's international airport into the bright sunshine clutching only his backpack.

I stared up at the glittering skyscrapers of Tokyo 3 in the distance. There were no signs that a battle had ever taken place here. No ruined buildings, no craters and no invading titans, if there really was a war going on, they were being very tidy about it.

I took off my rucksack and removed a sheet of paper from inside. On it were Ritsuko's instructions for when I arrived.

_'Wait outside the main entrance and we'll send someone to collect you.'_

A sudden animal instinct told me that I was being watched and I glanced around cautiously. The street was crowded with people but none of them paid me any attention.

"Are you Tanus Harrab?" a voice said in heavily accented English.

I looked over my shoulder; two men stood behind me, they wore well-tailored dark suits, they carried briefcases, and they wore sunglasses like countless others who bustled around us, but something about the way they stood told me these were not businessmen.

"Who's asking?" I replied cautiously, aware that my old coveralls probably weren't the best clothes to travel in.

"We're with NERV Intelligence and we're here to ensure that Tanus arrives at Headquarters safely."

" ID cards."

The men locked surprised by my sudden demand, "What?" the tallest asked.

"Your IDs," I said, " I need to make sure that you are who you say you are."

The two agents exchanged glances and then the shorter one nodded. They produced cards from pockets and passed them forwards.

I examined them carefully before pulling out my own. "Ok," I said giving the cards back, "I'm Tanus." I showed them my old London pass.

"Good. Follow me." Said the tall one, His ID named him as Hiryu Arare, and he led me to a black sedan with the word NERV painted on the roof in white, the shorter Agent, Kagero Hamakaze, opened the rear door and gestured to me.

"Get in." he ordered, keeping his eyes on the crowded airport entrance.

The trip to NERV central was uneventful; I spent the time checking the contents of my rucksack. I had a change of clothes, a Japanese phrase book, a copy of Robert Jordan's _the eye of the world, _my old tool belt/harness, and Ritsuko's note.

_"Great,"_ I thought, _"Thanks, British Airways."_

Hiryu drove the car into a small tunnel and turned off the engine.

"Why are we stopping here?" I asked, trying to peer through the darkness out side.

Suddenly the car lurched sideways and a voice echoed though the vehicle, with my basic knowledge of Japanese I managed to translate after running it though my mind a few times and checking my phrase book, telling us that this train would bypass all other stations. It felt like an achievement.

The car train descended for a few minutes before expelling us into a huge underground cavern, lit by huge lights attached to the roof amongst upside-down skyscrapers, while far bellow me a destroyer, dwarfed by the size of the lake it sailed on, passed underneath a suspension bridge on its patrol.

"Whoa." I gasped, craning my head to stare at the hidden land below me. Beside the lake stood a grey pyramid in the middle of a sprawling forest, several roads and monorails connecting it to the walls of the cavern with a web of steel and tarmac. Our track headed straight towards it.

The two agents glanced at the view beneath us then continued their conversation. They were obviously used to it by now.

A few minutes later the agents escorted me through the pyramid, herding me in front of them like a prisoner they had caught sneaking in, but eventually they led me to a pair of double doors that were strangely similar to Major Stonewalls back in London. Expect two armed guards didn't flank his.

"Commander Ikari wants to discuss your terms of service." Hiryu said, "Then you will have living quarters allocated to you."

"Right." I said nervously.

"After that you will report to Dr Akagi for your training regime."

The two agents, their job completed, turned and left me standing alone in the corridor.

_"Ok Tanus"_ I thought, _"Time to meet the boss."_

One of the guards stepped towards me. His face was expressionless.

"Identification." He barked.

"Yes sir." I said passing it to him.

He took the card and inserted it into a small handheld computer. It beeped twice then fell silent. The guard removed the id and gave it back.

"Tanus Harrab, Commander Ikari will see you in his office. Leave your bag here."

I nodded, dumped the bag at his feet, and pushed open the foreboding doors. The room on the other side was huge, at least ten times larger that the Majors, and apart from the desk at the far end, completely empty. A pattern of some kind was engraved on the ceiling and, I noticed as I marched across the barren floor towards the desk, on the floor as well.

When I reached the desk I came to attention and saluted.

"Tanus Harrab reporting in sir." I said

The man seated behind the desk said nothing. Instead he glared at me from behind his glasses, his hands interlocked in front of him, his face gave no hint as to what he thought of me.

I shifted uneasily under that scrutiny, for nearly a minute he just stared without blinking, suddenly he spoke, his voice strangely loud in the open space, causing me to flinch.

"Pilot Harrab, you will be on call for duty twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. That includes training, medical examinations and combat exercises. You pay and rank will be equal to that of Lieutenant second class, do you understand?"

"Yes sir," I said, it seemed the safest thing to say under the circumstances. His English was perfect.

"You are dismissed. Report to Doctor Akagi for your training regime."

"Sir." I said. Obviously discuss meant "I tell you, you agree." in Ikari's book.

I turned on my heel and marched back the way I had come, feeling that icy stare on the back of my neck as I left. I thought the Iron Maiden was cold but she was a mere chilly foothill compared to the icy slopes of Mount Ikari. That glare could freeze hell.

Dr Akagi was waiting for me in the corridor, with her clipboard in hand.

"I trust you had a good flight Tanus?" she asked as I retrieved my rucksack from the guard.

"Yes ma'am. Apart from them losing my suitcase that is."

"Some things can't be helped," she said with a smile as we started to walk towards the lifts, "I have already finalised your training, we just need to sort out your accommodation. Captain Katsuragi has suggested that you stay with her."

"Who's Captain Katsuragi?" I asked as we stepped into the lift.

"Our Director of Operations," Ritsuko explained, "Once you've completed your basic training, you and your Unit will be placed under her direct command. She already looks after another pilot."

I remained silent as we descended; the idea had a certain appeal. It would help me learn the language better if I have to use it more often. Not to mention that I could get to know the other pilot better.

"Maybe I should" I said and gave her my thoughts on the subject.

"That's true," she replied thoughtfully as the lift slowed. "I'll get an apartment ready for you and have your excess things sent there, just in case you change your mind."

The lift doors slid open and Ritsuko led me down another corridor and down a staircase towards a large metal door, nodding an acknowledgement to the two guards stood beside it, they saluted.

"I understand that you might be tired from the trip," she said as she swiped her card through the reader, "but time is of the essence and we need to get you ready for combat as soon as possible, that's why I scheduled your activation experiment for today."

The door opened and Ritsuko pointed towards a door on the right hand side of the revealed corridor. Security was certainly tighter than back home.

"That's the male locker room, there a several around the cages and support stations, you should find a locker with "05" engraved on it, inside is your plug suit and a set of neural clips. Put them on. I'll be waiting out here."

The room was lined with large metal lockers with a wooden bench running all the way down to what looked like a shower room at the back. The locker assigned to me was fairly close to the door opening it revealed a small package was nestled in the bottom with the words "T. Harrab. F type Plug Suit" printed on it in black.

I removed the plugsuit; it was dark green and looked sort of like a wetsuit with padded shoulders and a large black object emerging from the chest.

I struggled into it, the thing on the front made it difficult, and glanced at my reflection in the mirror built into the locker door. The Plugsuit was several sizes too big.

Surprised at the inaccuracy I examined my new uniform, trying to find a way to tighten it. When I noticed the switches on the wrists, I pressed one curiously. What I didn't expect was for all the air around my body to be forced out and the suit constrict around my chest, forcing the air from my lungs and causing me to stagger backwards. When I took a deep breath the material loosened slightly, almost reluctantly, allowing me to breathe normally.

I examined the contents of the locker once I could breathe again, finding the clips Ritsuko spoke of, and carefully put them on, expecting them to try and throttle me or something just as horrible.

"How is it?" Ritsuko asked when I rejoined her in the corridor. "Any problems?"

"There's a lot of pressure on my torso." I said, flexing my shoulders in the form-fitting material, "but apart from that everything seems ok."

"The suit will adjust to your body over time. Don't worry."

I was led further down the corridor towards another pair of double doors. These where heavily reinforced at looked inches thick.

"I think that you should open this Tanus," The doctor said, a hint of expectation in her voice and nodded towards the card scanner on the wall. "Your clearance should have been updated."

I grinned nervously and reached into the pocket on my right thigh where I had stashed my ID card and ran it through the scanner.

The doors glided open and revealed a huge foot, exactly the same hue as my plugsuit. I slowly raised my head, though all thirty floors, until I was looking almost straight up at the armoured head far above us.

"Holy..." I gasped, forgetting the tightness of my new uniform for a moment, "It's gigantic."

"Most people say that when they see an Eva for the first time. This is Evangelion Unit Five. Unit One is in the next cage with Zero just opposite."

"Unit Five? What happened to Two, Three and Four?" I asked as I was led into another lift.

"Unit Two has been completed and is undergoing field trials in the US. Units Three and Four are entering there last stages of development. But you don't need to worry about that, instead focus on your training. It will not be easy."

The lift ascended quickly and deposited us on the bridge that ran level with the Evas head. As I stepped towards the faintly glowing eyes, Ritsuko said something into a hand-held radio she pulled from a pocket.

The head suddenly lunged forward and a white cylinder slid out of the back of the neck, a hatch opening on the uppermost face and a crane from the ceiling removed a shallow seat from inside, carrying it towards where I was stood.

"That cylinder is called the Entry Plug," Ritsuko explained, noticing my confusion, "it acts as a cockpit for the pilot. If needed, it can be ejected entirely."

I clambered into the seat as Ritsuko gave more commands in Japanese though her radio.

With a sudden lurch I began to move backwards towards the entry plug.

"I have to monitor the test from the control room," I heard Ritsuko yell over the rumble of the crane, "I'll contact you when I get there."

The hatch slammed closed and I was plunged into darkness, it's a good thing that I was used to confined spaces.

I sat there quietly for a few minutes, wondering what I was supposed to do and fiddling with the controls, imagining what it would be like to fight some giant monsters, when Ritsuko's voice cut through the silence.

"Unit Five, this is Control, Radio check, over."

"Control, Unit 05 here, hearing you loud and clear, awaiting orders." The techs at London had taught me radio procedure as part of my basic training. The team had been small, but connected with a bond of comradeship that meant that such trivial things where ignored. The systems in the depths of the base were difficult to work on without confusing things with code words.

"We are about to insert the entry plug, are you ready?"

"Yes ma'am."

The cylinder began to rotate and an orange liquid began to trickle in through vents near my feet. Then the walls halted with a loud thud.

"Don't worry, that liquid is LCL, it's part of the system" Ritsuko assured me.

I took a deep breath, remarkably calm as the liquid neared my head, after all, they wouldn't have brought me this far just to drown me. I found myself wondering how I would breathe.

"Once your lungs are filled with LCL your blood will be oxygenated directly." Ritsuko answered my unspoken question. "You'll get used to it."

Unable to hold my breath any longer I breathed in, LCL flooding my mouth and making me feel sick. I tried to spit it out but by now the entire plug was filled with the stuff. So I concentrated on not throwing up.

I heard Ritsuko give commands to someone in English, probably for my benefit.

"Configure the Language Logic interface for English,"

The screen between the two control sticks flashed "configured" twice, and the tiny keyboard flickered as English characters appeared on the keys. Their glow was the only light in the cockpit.

"Charge LCL,"

I felt the liquid chance density and change colour from the dark orange to crystal clear. The plug might have been filled with air again.

"Activate Health monitors."

A green light flicked into life on the front of my plug suit. Another appeared on the control column.

"System prepped for activation. All stations stand by for main power connection."

The walls of the plug suddenly flashed through a jumble of colours and patterns. I closed my eyes to avoid the raising nausea. I made a note never to eat airplane food again.

"Commencing synchronization."

I became aware of a strange feeling at the back of my head, a sort of tingling though the clips, my mind felt heavy in my skull.

"First stage, Satisfactory. Shift Format to phase 2,"

The feeling changed, I realised with a start it was "Watching" me. It became fearful; and I recognised it as more like someone standing at my shoulder then a sensation of my own.

"Approaching absolute borderline in 0.5"

The fear lessened slightly. But the presence kept its distance. For some reason I was not afraid, it felt familiar somehow.

"0.4,"

I tried to sooth the presence and it responded. I could feel it cautiously examining me. It retreated when I tried to focus. It swirled around me. Watching.

"0.3,"

I felt it move closer as it examined my mind; its fear replaced with curiosity and another emotion I couldn't name, it was comforting, almost soothing.

"0.2,"

"_Come on,"_ I thought at it, _" I will not hurt you."_

"0.1,"

It was very close now and the two emotions where joined by a third. Then suddenly I was filled with a sense of acceptance just as Ritsuko informed me that Unit Five had been successfully activated. I opened my eyes as her face appeared on the HUD before me, rimmed with the words CONTROL AK.

"How do you feel?" Ritsuko asked,

"I feel…. Good."

"Can you feel anything though the synchronisation? Any pain?"

I noticed a light pressure on my arms when I tried to move them. Ritsuko nodded when I mentioned this.

"Focus on those feelings." She ordered.

I did so and almost swore when the pressure increased, squeezing my forearms and shoulders as I flexed them in my new uniform. Both my limbs felt as if they were in vices. The pressure increasing the harder I tried to move.

"Good, your ratio is 19.32, slightly less then predicted, but good nevertheless."

The presence was watching my efforts, amusement and pride crossing the link between us.

"So what now?" I asked the doctor's image and she pushed her glasses up her nose.

"We're just getting started. On your central column, you should see a keyboard, enter this command string…"

The test lasted another three hours, I spent the time mentally examining the plugs other occupant and physically giving the giant war machine a shakedown. Although the presence seemed lively and alert, the Eva felt lethargic, slow to respond to commands I gave it, like it had been asleep for a long time. When Ritsuko informed me that the test was finished and that my ratio had flat lined at about twenty, the LCL was drained from the plug, leaving me choking on the remainder that still filled my lungs.

I was pulled backwards, then the hatch opened and the crane latched onto the rear of the command seat and sung me back over the umbilical bridge. I gave a hacking cough and splattered the metal with LCL.

_"That stuff is awful,"_ I thought as I slid out of the seat, covered in the orange fluid, _"I wonder if it comes in different flavours?"_

Dr Akagi appeared at that moment, interrupting my thoughts of spearmint flavoured LCL, with a red-jacketed woman in tow. I tried to wipe LCL off my face.

"That was good Tanus." Ritsuko said making a note on her clipboard, "With a few weeks training you should be ready for active duty."

"Yes ma'am, thank you." I replied.

Ritsuko stepped back a pace and motioned towards the woman beside her.

"This is Captain Misato Katsuragi, she is the one who has suggested that you stay with her."

I quickly came to attention and saluted, nearly slipping in the LCL, but The Captain gave me an understanding smile and returned the salute.

"It is… pleasure to meet you Cap- Captain." I said in my broken Japanese.

Katsuragi nodded and replied in the same language, speaking slowly and with care so I could understand her.

"You too. Ritsuko has told me about you."

Ritsuko looked surprised by my grasp of Japanese, but she recovered swiftly,

"We'll begin your training tomorrow morning at seven thirty, I'll give you your full training regime then."

"Yes ma'am."

With that, Ritsuko tuned and left the cage though the door she entered by, while Misato led me back the other way towards the locker rooms.

"The showers are at the back," she said, pointing through the door towards the rear of the room. "I promise I'll stay here." She added with a wink.

After a few minutes under the warm water, washing off all the foul liquid, I felt almost human again and looking forward to a good meal and bed.

_" I hope it's that simple in combat."_ I thought as I got changed into my spare set of clothes, _"I'm an electrician, not a soldier."_

I retuned the plug suit to the locker and picked up my rucksack. My thoughts dwelling on the presence in the entry plug, and my eyes on the emerald green suit. Ritsuko had said that Evangelions were synthetic life forms. So some feeling of life was only to be expected.

But that doesn't explain the sense of familiarly.

My eyes fell upon the engraved 05.

"Just what are you?" I whispered, tracing the carving with my hand.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	3. Into The Shadow

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Chapter 3. Into the Shadow

The blood seeped through the metal grille inches from my face. I was paralysed with terror; the other side of the panel was a glimpse into hell. Men and women lay where they had fallen, their uniforms stained with blood and torn by merciless gunfire, empty bullet casings shone brightly around the dead.

Mans worst enemy was himself.

I moved away from the view, the urge to vomit almost overpowering, and crawled further into the darkness of the tunnel, the tunnels were safe; no one could follow me through there.

Suddenly a hand grasped my ankle pulled me backwards though the tunnel. I lashed out with my foot but the grip was like iron.

I was suddenly out in the corridor, failing my arms to get back into my sanctuary when I was pulled roughly to my feet, then lifted up towards the face of my captor. My kicks and bites didn't trouble this giant in the slightest.

My eyes met his and I froze in horror, the gasmask he wore made him seem almost inhuman, but it was the eyes behind it scared me the most.

Cold, Icy blue, and totally void of emotion, like a doll. This man was used to slaughter.

"Found you." He said in a voice that chilled my soul, and pressed his pistol to the side of my head.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I awoke with my shirt drenched in sweat, my heart hammering in my chest, and my hand gripping my ID so hard the edges where pressing hard into the flesh.

The room I found myself in was plain and had little mark of habitation. The rucksack against one wall was the only indication I had been here at all, never mind the three days since my arrival in the county.

I sat upwards, allowing the square of plastic to fall to the floor and rubbed the sore red skin with my other hand.

It had been a long time since I had had that dream, and I tried to push the memory of it back into the depths of my mind where it belonged while I took stock of my surroundings.

It was the spare room of Captain Misato Katsuragi's apartment, the building sitting in the mountains on the outskirts of the city and my new home.

The Captain had driven me here from my activation experiment, showing me her wild version of driving and insisting that I called her Misato when we were off duty,

"I get enough of "Yes ma'am" from Shinji," She had said, once we had arrived in the apartment, and introduced me to the other active Eva pilot, Shinji Ikari himself.

My expectation of the other boy had been a younger version of his father, the Organisation's commander. I was surprised to learn that he was far shorter, quieter, and more well mannered, addressing either myself of Misato with formal, respectful terms. I could understand the formality with the captain, but someone calling me sir had caught me off guard. I was used to being firmly at the bottom of the rank pile, and had been happy there.

I swung my feet off the bed and stood up, a glance at my watch informed me that I had two hours to myself before I had to report to head quarters with Shinji.

A shower was first on the list of things to do today, followed by breakfast and then sorting out the problem Misato had with the front door. Everything seemed to break easily in this country.

Finding my way to the bathroom in my still sleepy state had been difficult, and I exchanged friendly nods with a towel-wearing penguin in the living room.

Then my brain caught up with my eyes.

I lent backwards through the curtain that separated the bathroom from the kitchen and dinning room just in time to see the penguin press a button near the bottom of the fridge and disappear inside.

"That's Pen-Pen, he's your other room mate." Said Misato from were she was sat on the table. She had been sat very still and I hadn't noticed her until she spoke.

There was a pause as I mentally translated and prepared a response, my new guardian waited patiently.

"He's your pet?" I asked, still struggling with the foundations of a language based on a totally different system then my Latin birthed English.

Misato reached for a can of beer and opened it before replying, "Kind of, he's more of a friend really."

"Why haven't I seen him before?"

"He sleeps in his fridge most of the day, you've been waking up earlier than he does."

I turned to look at the fridge Pen-pen called home as she took a pull from the can and belched, rattling the windows.

"YEEEEEEEE HA!! Good stuff!" she yelled, throwing the can over her shoulder and reaching for another from the little stockpile beside her.

I dismissed her antics as normal as this place was going to get and went for my shower; maybe when I retuned the world would make more sense.

It didn't. But Shinji was also awake and had started to make toast, working around Misato still sat on the table while she read the newspaper. Pen-Pen was still in his fridge.

I quickly got changed and rejoined the others at the table in time to receive a plate of toast from Shinji. I gave him a thumb up.

"Thank you, Shinji." I replied in Japanese

He gave a nervous little grin in response and returned to his breakfast.

I glanced at him over my plate. Shinji Ikari, he seemed friendly enough, he answered my questions about the county politely, but kept out of my way the rest of the time. As if he was afraid.

A few hours later.

The strange feeling of LCL changing from heavy as water to lighter than air still bothered me as My Eva activated, the presence was lively and alert once more, I could feel it examining the simulated city that I could on the walls of the plug with child like excitement. Ritsuko's face popped up next to my start up diagnostic screen. She looked fresh and well rested. Strange that I didn't, she had much longer shifts.

"Good morning you two. How's it going?"

"No problems, I think I'm getting used to it." Replied Shinji, looking as tired as I felt.

"That's good. How about you Tanus?

I looked up from my system check, "Targeting computers online, and all other systems on standby. I'm ready."

"Have you both memorised all Eva emergence locations, armament buildings, power junctions and recovery zones?"

Shinji and I nodded, it had taken the best part of a day's dedicated study, Tokyo three was riddled with the things, but I was confident I could locate one if I needed to.

"Well let's review it now. Normally your Eva runs off power provided by an umbilical cable. In emergences it can use a built in battery with an active life of one minute at full power and no longer than five in the minimal activity gain mode. This is due to our current limits in battery capacity technology."

I whistled through my teeth, that wasn't a lot of time.

"Lets continue from were we left off yesterday." She said, turning to someone of screen, "Initiate induction mode."

A timer appeared in the bottom right of my HUD, counting down from five minutes and Shinji and I shouldered our pallet rifles in unison as a virtual copy of the last angel appeared in front of us. It had broad shoulders and long arms that reached almost to the ground; its round face with tiny black eyes was in the middle of its chest, a red sphere, glowing faintly, just below that.

I felt my respect for Shinji rise; he had faced that for real on his first day.

_"Brave kid."_ I thought, and the presence swirled around me in agreement. I smiled slightly. Its excitement was infectious.

"Shinji, you go first, position the target in the centre and squeeze the trigger switch on."

Unit one's volley missed the target and blew chucks of concrete out of the building behind it.

"Take it easy, position the target in the _centre._"

Shinji must have adjusted his aim as the second attempt hit the target dead-on and it collapsed, exploding as it hit the ground.

"Very good. Tanus, you try."

Another copy appeared and I pulled the trigger. My shot was worse then Shinji's. I even missed the buildings.

I cursed and recalibrated my targeting computer using the method Ritsuko had taught me the day before, and then fired again. It was slightly better shot then the first, several rounds hitting the angel in the shoulder and the rest finishing off the building that Shinji had wounded.

"Take that skyscraper!" I chuckled as my computer corrected the error and allowed my final volley to destroy the target. The presence gave a mental sigh. I ignored it.

"That's enough." Ritsuko interrupted "Did you see the red sphere in the angels chest? We believe that it's an angel's weak point. If you can, Target that. Try again."

Two more angels appeared and Shinji and I opened fire simultaneously, the two targets fell quickly as our rounds found the red spheres.

"Boom!" I yelled happily, even Shinji gave a slight smile, it wasn't a real angel but it was still a kill. The presence swirled around me again, emitting warm feelings and lifting my own mood.

"Ok. Were done here. Good work you two"

The virtual city dissolved, revealing the white walls of the simulation cage and the forest of wires that had linked my Eva to the simulator.

"Tanus, prepare for entry plug ejection." Ritsuko's assistant Maya informed me and I felt a brief felling of regret from the presence as the plug slid backwards and the LCL retuned to its orange colour before draining out of the bottom.

That's how it continued for the next week, waking up before sunrise; combat exercises and sync tests spread throughout the day, interspersed with Japanese lessons with a private tutor and training with Ritsuko on how to use my sensors and data analysis systems. Before retuning to Misato's apartment exhausted to do it all again the next day. About mid week I was allowed half a day to buy my school things, as I would be starting at Shinji's school soon. I also managed to buy a new tape player, my old one having gone missing with my suitcase.

School uniform, it was just a white shirt and a pair of black trousers, but it meant I had to worry about homework as well as Ritsuko's brutal training.

I slid my wardrobe door shut on them, glancing at my watch with a grimace, tomorrow was my first day and I wasn't looking forward to it at all.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I was awoken at 6:30 by a heavy weight landing on my stomach, then work its way up my torso until it was on my chest, opening my eyes revealed that Pen-pen demanded my attention.

"Morning pen-pen," I said sleepily.

He stared at me for a few seconds longer and then, once he was certain that he had his temporary goal of my interest, transferred his gaze though my open door to his food dish.

"I get it." I said , "you want feeding, right?"

He nodded, hoped down onto the floor and waddled to stand beside the dish. I followed him and pulled one of the whole fish from the fridge and threw it into the plastic dish. He devoured it in seconds.

"Weird bird" I muttered as Shinji arrived from Misato's room carrying a blue plastic bag "Don't worry about pen-pen," I said to him, "I've just given him his breakfast."

"I have already fed him." He replied, looking confused

As one man we turned to stare at the penguin, who waddled off, probably to try his new trick on his owner.

_"I've been duped by a bird."_ I thought, _"Why aren't I surprised?" _

"What've you got their Shinji?" I asked, to cover my confusion, nodding towards the bag in his hand.

"Its Thursday," he replied holding it up, "Burnable trash day."

I noticed several more bags behind him, for an apartment with only three people in it, we seemed to go through a lot of rubbish. "I'll give you a hand. Just let me get changed."

A few minutes later I was hauling several bin bags down a flight of stairs in my new school uniform, however I had decided to keep my tech jacket and cap on too, the extra pockets certainly were useful.

I reached the ground floor and gave the metal doors of the lifts a sloid kick with my boot, their poor maintenance meant I had had to carry the bags all they way down here.

We eventually managed to get all the bags to the collection point and began to make our way through the sun-drenched streets towards the school.

Several other kids were heading in the same direction as us but they stayed in their little groups of friends, occasionally glancing back over their shoulders at us before whispering with their companions. Shinji seemed to recoil from their stares while I returned them with an angry glare. I knew that they were talking about us even if I couldn't hear them. The discourtesy annoyed the hell out off me.

I dismissed them from my mind with difficulty and removed my new tape player from my bag and switched it on. Suddenly my head was filled with the hilarious banter of the Tokyo Three morning crew, my favourite radio programme and I listened everyday since arriving in the country. Shinji just stared at the ground between his trainers as he walked. He was really starting to worry me. I considered myself his friend; maybe his only friend, and he had only said a few words to me over the time that I had known him, It wasn't like he hated me, more like he didn't know how to behave.

There were more stares as we entered the school grounds and made our way towards the entrance. I managed to catch some of the whispers if I turned off my headphones.

"Who's the new guy?"

"Do you think that _he's_ the pilot of that robot?"

"He can't be. He just got here. We'd seen him before."

"He certainly looks mean. Those eyes."

"Maybe he had to stay on the base and learn Japanese. So he could fit in."

"He'd have a hard job of that! Look at his shoulders, he must be some kind of athlete to have muscles like that."

"I'd love to see him and Toji duke it out."

The group scattered as I drew nearer to where they stood in the shadow of the main building; my first priority find the reception and hand over my recently completed transfer papers. I hated paperwork, as a tech I usually little contact with it, and now I had to report everything I did to everyone who might give a damn, I doubted anyone actually did.

Just inside the double doors sat a wooden desk and a wall of cabinets in a little booth. I assumed that this must be it.

"Hello, you must be Tanus," said the woman behind the desk with a slight bow, which I returned. Shinji had vanished up the nearby stairs, lost in his own thoughts.

"Captain Katsuragi has already filed the transfer papers, you just need to sign for this laptop." She pushed it across the varnished wood along with a form. I pulled a pen from my pocket, slightly disgruntled that I had waded through a sea of red tape for nothing.

"In English or Japanese?" I asked, reading through the text, slightly proud that I could decipher the kanji.

"English is fine. It's just for the records. No one ever reads them." She joked as I scrawled my name at the bottom.

She began to tell me about the school and what would happen each day, I listened with only half an ear, Misato had already told me most of this, a group of girls walked past giggling and staring, speaking quickly and quietly so I couldn't understand. I could guess their subject through.

I won't be modest, I was in good shape for my age, being a Maintenance Technician is all about hard, physical work and as such my muscles were well defined. Normally I would have been embarrassed by all the attention but due to stress and lack of sleep it was getting on my nerves. I tapped my fingers on the desk irritably.

"What? They've never seen an Englishman before?" I said to myself.

"Its only because you're the new student," said the receptionist kindly, surprising me by using my mother language, it felt good to hear it. "You'll be the talk of the school for a few days, then you'll just be another guy."

"I suppose that's a good thing." I said with a mock sigh, placing the laptop into my satchel.

"You're in class 2-A, with your friend." The receptionist passed me a printout of my timetable. "It's just up those stairs. Have a good day."

"You too ma'am. Thank you."

I examined the printout as I headed up to the classroom, Misato had explained that classes stayed in one room and the teacher's move between them throughout the day, leaving small breaks between each lesson and a lunch break at about midday. I had History first followed by Maths. Oh joy.

I found the room easily enough and slid open the door, noting with surprise that the classroom was nearly empty of people. There was Shinji near the front, listening to his own tape player, a boy in glasses a few desks behind him playing with a VTOL model and a video camera, a brown haired girl clutching a folder near the teachers desk and a blue haired girl I had seen around headquarters a couple of times was sat at a desk by the window, wrapped in bandages. Ritsuko had told me she piloted Unit Zero.

The brown haired girl approached me then, still clutching the folder, reminding me oddly of a mini Doctor Akagi.

"You must be the new student," she said smiling, "my name is Hikari, I'm the class representative."

"I'm Tanus Harrab, nice to meet you Hikari."

"Your desk is over there, just next to Shinji, I assume you know him?"

I nodded, "yeah. I'm staying with him for a while."

"In that case I'll show you how to connect your laptop to the network."

"Thank you."

With her help I managed to get the laptop linked to the schools server and changed the password from my twelve-digit student number to something I could actually remember.

"You have a few minutes until class starts, so take the time to get used to the features." Hikari advised, before moving over to the boy with glasses. I watched her out of the corner of my eye. The laptop was an old model and the features were best described as basic, learning about them wouldn't take long.

"What's up class rep?" the boy asked lowering the camera and model.

"Did you deliver the printout I gave you yesterday?"

The boy looked guilty and pushed something under his desk with his free hand, I lent down in my chair, pretending to tie my shoelace, and I saw a sheaf of papers move away from the light.

"Well um, I just, um. There wasn't anybody home over at Toji's place."

Hikari looked stern, she had seen the movement as well, "Mr Aida, aren't you Suzuhara's friend? Aren't you just a little bit worried about why he hasn't shown up for the past few days?"

"You don't think he was injured do you?"

"What in that robot incident? The television reports all said that no one was hurt."

"Oh come on! You saw that explosion right? There were troops from Iruma and Komatsu and fighter jets from Misawa and Kyushu. I'll bet that at least ten, twenty people are injured. Probably some fatalities too."

"Don't change the subject." Hikari snapped, "I gave you a simple task: give those papers to-"

Just then the door opened again and a boy about my height entered, like myself was wearing something over the usual uniform, in his case it was a tracksuit jacket.

"Toji!" said the boy, surprised.

"Suzuhara." Said Hikari looking relived.

Toji sat on the edge of Aida's desk and looked around at the nearly empty classroom.

"Where is everyone?" he asked, "Have they all turned invisible or what?"

"They've all evacuated or transferred to different schools, no one wants to stay here after that last battle inside the city."

"You're probably the only one who's happy to be in the middle of a real war, Kensuke."

"That's true." Kensuke replied turning his camera on Toji, "Speaking of which, why were you absent so long? Did you get involved with the war? Threw some rocks at the giant? Come on, you can tell me."

Toji turned away, his hands punched into fists

"No. But my little sister did. She was crushed under a pile of debris. That robot dislodged when it was wrestling with that giant. She survived but she's so badly hurt she can't leave the hospital. What's worse is that my dad and granddad can't leave their posts at the lab, so if I'm not with her, she's all alone."

Then his face twisted with anger and he spat on the floor, ignoring the glare Hikari gave him,

"That robots pilot is really dumb! How could he wreak our own city! It makes me so angry! Did he think he was playing some kind of game?"

I frowned, civilians always annoyed me by assuming they know everything about military matters, he obvious was ignorant to the strain that even moving those "robots placed on us.

His friend lent forwards and whispered something.

"What transfer students?" Snapped Toji,

"Those two over there." Aida nodded towards me. I glared angrily and he dropped his eyes.

"The black haired one transferred in a few weeks ago, just after the giant robot incident" he continued, thinking I couldn't hear him "and that guy just arrived today. Don't you think that's a little strange?"

Before Toji could answer the door slid open again, a handful more students were herded into the classroom by a teacher.

"All rise!" Hikari ordered and we all leapt upwards our desks.

"Bow." We did so.

"Sit."

The teacher sat behind his desk and looked through the register,

"Ah," he said, "I see we have a new companion on the road to knowledge, Mr Harrab, if you would like to come up here and introduce yourself to the class."

"Yes sir." I stood up and marched to the front of his desk then tuned to face the class.

"My name is Tanus Harrab, just Tanus if you want, I'm still learning to speak Japanese. I'm here from England and I look forward to getting to know you all."

"Thank you Mr Harrab, that will do." said the teacher "you may sit back down and incidentally your Japanese is quite impressive, so I expect all assignments in on time."

I returned to my seat as the teacher began to lecture us about the second impact, by the class's reaction they had heard it before. The blue haired girl hadn't even looked away from the window. I also glanced out at the view of the city, but what she was staring at was beyond me.

The rest of the lesson was spent trying not to doze off, the teacher had spoken in a monotone for most of it and combined with the warm sunshine through the window was making me sleepy. On an impulse I decided to check the class instant messenger, to see if I was just "some guy" yet. I logged in to find a conversation between Shinji and some other student clogging the server. My arrival went unnoticed

Ladybug: Shinj1 is it true that you're the pilot of that robot? Y/N?

There was a pause. Then the other speaker entered something else,

Ladybug: its true isn't it? Y/N

Another pause, longer this time, Shinji seemed to be weighing his options.

Shinji1: yes

As soon as that one word appeared on the screen the class was in uproar, gathering around Shinji in a tight group that allowed no escape. Only Hikari, Aida, Toji, the blue haired girl, I think her name was Rei, and myself had not moved. Hikari was trying to get everyone back into his or her seat, Toji was glaring at the group and Rei was still fixated on the city below us.

The teacher carried on oblivious to the mayhem behind him as he looked out on Tokyo 3 proudly. I sighed wearily.

"This very city," he was saying, "is not only a symbol of mankind's resilience but a symbol of the blood sweat and tears that your fathers and mothers have dedicated to this cause. And thus-," the bell that signalled the end of the lesson interrupted him, He looked up in surprise, he seemed to be able to hear that at least, "Oh, I guess that's all for the day."

"Everyone stand up! Bow!" Hikari yelled, "hey you guys, can't you at least show some manners?"

Some of the group seemed to realise that the lesson was over and drifted back to their desks and packed up their books. Hikari gave up and sat back down at her desk, her arms folded and shooting angry looks at her classmates as they passed. Shinji took advantage of the gap in the wall of classmates around him to make a dart for the door, a few seconds later Toji followed him with Aida in tow.

"Well at least you have some manners," said Hikari to me as I stood to follow them, suspicious of Toji's intentions.

"Its how I was raised. A curse of being British I think."

"What do you think of Japanese schooling?" she asked, crossing the room to sit on the wooden surface of my desk, "Is it different from the English method?"

"Not really, the content seems the same." I began, glancing out of the window, below me Toji had caught up to Shinji, turned him around, then lashed out with his fist. Shinji crumpled and I grappled my satchel, anger surging through me as I ran towards the door.

"I'm sorry," I said to the bewildered Hikari, " I'll explain another time."

By the time I had reached were Shinji lay on the ground, staring up at the sky above while rubbing his cheek. Toji and Aida had vanished. I helped him get to his feet.

"Are you alright?" I asked as he rubbed his cheek.

"I'm fine" he said " he just-"

"He'll pay if he tries that again, tell me if he even looks at you wrong in the future, I'll sort him out."

I heard footsteps in the gravel behind me, thinking that Toji had returned. I spun around. Well, he had me to contend with now, and I wasn't afraid of a scrap. But instead in found the blue haired girl from headquarters staring up at me curiously. My anger drained from my body. I would give Toji an attitude adjustment later

"There's an emergency." She said simply, "All pilots are to report in and prepare for sortie." And then she turned and began to run towards the city.

Shinji and I glanced at each other and followed as the sirens begin to wail.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Shinji and I arrived at headquarters out of breath, were intercepted by the all-knowing Ritsuko and ordered to go straight to the locker room and board our entry plugs. So when I had changed into my plug suit I was already exhausted and still had a battle to fight.

"They should have sent a car for us" I said to Shinji as he changed into his white and blue plugsuit. "I'm not built for sprinting."

He only nodded, pressurised his suit and left towards cage seven.

"Well don't mind me." I muttered entering the lift that would take me to the umbilical bridge of cage six and my waiting Eva.

The command chair was already waiting for me as the doors opened and an orange shirt was just checking the controls.

"Its all ready for you sir," he said, saluting " just climb in and we'll get you to the launch pad."

I did so silently, fear was making me go numb, my first battle. Had Shinji felt like this when he was first launched? What about that girl? As the hatch of the entry plug slammed closed I heard the PA declare that the AA defence was only operating at 48 percent efficiency.

_"Great"_ I thought as the plug rotated its way into unit Fives spine and the LCL flooded in, _"The damn defences aren't even operational yet."_

I could feel the presence swirl around me. It helped me calm down and I took a deep breath, ignoring the bitter taste that the LCL left in my mouth. My fingers danced across the miniature keyboard in the central console and status updates sprang up before me, bathing me in a reassuring green glow as all systems passed their tests.

"Listen up you two." Misato's face appeared on my HUD as we went through the launch procedure, small semi-transparent screens popping into life as well as my combat data system booted up, "do it just like in training, neutralise the enemy's AT field then fire a volley. The old one-two punch."

"Roger," we chorused, with another glance at each other, did we trust each other to fight together?

Ritsuko's face appeared alongside Misato's,

"This is your target," she said and yet another window materialized showing a live video feed of the angel, it was vaguely insect like with a long abdomen and arrow shaped head joined by a thorax were two "arms" extruded just behind the head, as we watched it raised itself by ninety degrees and lowered its head perpendicular to its body.

"Eva launch!" Misato yelled, and we rocketed upwards, the G-forces causing me to be pushed downwards in my seat, over the radio I could hear Shinji chanting something but I couldn't make it out over the rattle of the launch tube.

I emerged into the sunlight and came to a jarring halt, ahead of me a building slid open revealing unit one, and my safety locks disengaged, I could now move.

I checked my GPS, located a nearby equipment building and removed a pallet gun, the ammo count appeared in the bottom right of my HUD and I heard the reassuring beep as my computer found, registered, and then locked onto the target. Shinji already had a rifle gripped tightly in his hands.

"Ready when you are" I said, edging slowly along the building and peering down the street at our opponent, "I reckon we can take him."

"Ok." Shinji spun his Eva low around the building he was using as cover and opened fire on the target, I added my firepower to his, firing me weapon wildly over his head and the angel lurched backwards as our rounds hit home, shrouding it in thick smoke.

"Idiots!" Misato yelled, "You've hidden it!"

Our weapons spat a few more rounds and fell silent; I pulled a spare magazine from the armament building and reloaded. The presence gave me a burst of approval.

_"It must be dead,"_ I thought, trying to peer through the smoke, "_we didn't miss once."_

Without warning a pair of whips, glowing from within, lashed out through the smoke and I dived sideways as they cut through the building next to me with ease, leaving my rifle lying crushed on the street.

"What the hell?" I cursed as the whips shot out at my squad-mate, slicing his rifle in two, and causing him to roll backwards to avoid the stroke.

"I'm sending you spare weapons," said Misato and the building behind me opened, revealing a pair of pallet rifles. "Take them!"

I felt something burn my ankle, and I looked down in time to see one of the whips wrap around my leg before throwing me with ease at Shinji as he tried to stand up.

His eyes widened with surprise over the video link as I collided with him with enough force to knock him back through a line of buildings. We rolled for a block then came to a halt in a pile of rubble and tangled limbs. Sudden rage flowed though my veins as the Angel drifted forwards, its whips twitching as if alive themselves.

"_No bloody overgrown cockroach does that to me!"_

"Bastard!" I yelled angrily as I forced Unit Five to stand up, masonry and dust falling from gaps in my armour plate. I pulled the pistol in my right shoulder pylon as I did so, pointing it at the Angel's red sphere in challenge, "You're mine!"

I charged forwards, pistol blazing, my vision clouded by rage, and barely noticing that my shots ricochet from its carapace. The Eva's presence tried to sooth me but my rage forced it back. I wanted blood.

The first whip severed my left leg, sending burst of pain up from my hip as I toppled forward, still firing my pistol as I fell, the second slashed across my chest with a spray of blue blood.

"Unit Five is heavily damaged, it can't continue combat," someone said over the radio as I hit the floor, pain surging through me, "The pilot is wounded."

"Eject that plug! Get him out of there!"

"Roger!"

The eject system activated and I slumped forwards into blissful darkness.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	4. Battle Brothers

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Chapter 4: Battle Brothers

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"The old men have finally accepted your reasons for acquiring this pilot without their approval Ikari."

"The committee's main concern is for their own survival, they know the significance of keeping Central Dogma secure."

"You're sure he's the one you've been telling me about?"

"Yes. His actions during the attack, medical records and training reports prove it. He will be useful, if he can be controlled. "

"Then our plan continues?"

"Of course. We have a schedule to keep after all"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The steady beeping of medical equipment was the first thing I heard when I awoke. My first action was a mental checklist of my condition; everything seemed fine and still attached, thank god. Though my left leg felt stiff and my chest were wrapped in bandages and both itched like hell, it meant I was alive.

I sat up slowly, wincing at the pain that the simple movement caused in my chest, and examined my surroundings. Wide windows running along the wall to my left, a small metal table by the side of my bed with various monitoring machines next to that. A sliding metal door was the only feature on the wall to my right.

_"Hospital,"_ I thought, _"That means we won, right? I would be dead otherwise."_

Memories of the battle trickled though my mind, the deployment, the Angel throwing me like a toy at Shinji, and the anger. That scared me. I had never felt such rage in my life. Not even when the Iron Maiden had put me in solitary for turning up late for an inspection and I had been pretty pissed off then.

The door slid open suddenly, and Misato stepped in, a sheaf of papers tucked under one arm, she sat herself at the foot of my bed with a smile.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, "you've been asleep for a few days."

I shrugged, "just a few twinges and a head ache. I'm fine ma'am."

"That's good," she said removing a sheet of paper and writing something on it.

"Is this the part were I get yelled at for trashing an expensive piece of UN equipment?" I asked nervously, trying to read the forms she was filling in.

Misato chucked, "No. You're not in trouble." she noticed my gaze and held one up, "These are just standard post-combat reports and other red-tape. I just came here to see how you were doing."

I fell back against my pillow in relief, no time in solitary confinement for me, and Misato filled in a few more boxes.

"I'm guessing Shinji killed it." I said, staring at the ceiling," the Angel? I guess he's pretty pleased with himself."

Misato didn't answer immediately, I returned my gaze to her, "He did kill it." she said quietly, the pen hovered over the papers and she wouldn't meet my eye. "But he's shut himself in his room since them. I can't convince him to come out."

She recovered herself, returned the papers to the pile and told me what had happened after the angel defeated me. I listened carefully and tried to make sense of it.

"So, he let Toji and Kensuke into the entry plug, then destroyed the target against your orders?" I said once she had finished.

"Yes. That's right."

"I'm going to see how he is." I said immediately, swinging my legs off the bed, "my guess is that he needs a friend right now."

Misato smiled, "that would be good, come on, I'll help you to the car."

"I don't need help," I began before my leg gave out from under me, Misato managed to catch me before I hit the floor for the second time in a week.

The captain allowed me a few minutes to get changed then offered me her shoulder and together we made slow progress though the sterilised corridors of NERV's private hospital. Somewhere along the way she "acquired" a pair of crutches.

"Are you sure I'm allowed to leave?" I asked her as we entered the car park and head towards the Alpine.

"We'll deal with that when it comes." The captain replied easily as we got in.

I nodded, strapped myself into the passenger seat and I allowed myself to relax. Then I remembered Misato's approach to driving.

"_Aw crap."_ I thought as NERV's Director of Operations stomped on the accelerator.

Ten minutes and multiple traffic code violations later we came to a halt outside the apartment building in a shriek of tortured brake discs. Misato seemed her government official status made her immune to anything she didn't like.

Misato retrieved the crutches from the back of the car while I glanced up at the sky at the distant sound of thunder, a few raindrops landed on my face.

Pen-Pen was asleep on his beanbag when we entered the apartment and, apart from the rain pattering off the windows and his snores, the apartment was silent.

"Shinji!" Misato called, "We're home!"

I hobbled into the mess that had once been the kitchen, without Shinji's constant tidying Misato's inner slob was re-taking over the apartment with added mess, and knocked on Shinji's bedroom door, it sounded unusually loud.

"Shinji?" I said, "I'm back. Good job with the Angel. You need to tell me how you did it! That brings your kill count to two! Are you alright?"

There was no response. I glanced over at Misato.

"That's all I got too." She said, "Not a peep from him."

I frowned, that was unusual, even for him, and then forced the door open.

The room was empty. Shinji's wardrobe stood open and all his clothes were gone. Only the ID card and a note on the table showed that he had even been here.

"He's run away." Said Misato behind me as I picked them up, "I'm not surprised."

Just then the doorbell rang and she went to answer it. I was stunned. I had thought that I had become to understand him, nervous around unfamiliar people, does what he's told to and a bag of nerves when his father was near. But his running away was a surprise. After all, he had faced down two nearly invincible invaders. So I expected some backbone to have formed.

His ID card spun over and over in my hand; I tried to get a feeling of the boy's problems from that small plastic rectangle, and then threw it down on the desk, feeling stupid.

I limped back into the kitchen and I heard Misato talking desperately to someone at the door about Shinji being at a training centre hurriedly shutting the door closed.

"Shinji you idiot!" she yelled, not seeming to notice me in the corridor beside her and delivered a furious kick to the metal.

"Who was it?" I asked, eyeing the large dent cautiously.

"It was you classmates, the ones who got into the plug with Shinji, they delivered your school bulletins." She nodded towards the papers on the floor, "I'm going to go look for Shinji, you stay here in case he comes back. Okay?"

"Yes ma'am," I said as she disappeared through the door.

Pen-Pen waddled up to me then and fixed me with his I've-just-got -up-and-want-food stare.

"You don't know where he's gone, do you?" I asked the bird.

"WAAAARRK!"

"Yeah, but you always say that."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Misato returned a few hours later and collapsed into the chair opposite me at the kitchen table where I was reading the bulletins. Defeat draped across her shoulders like a shroud.

"No luck I take it," I said turning a page.

She shook her head, "nothing."

"He'll come back." I said, with a confidence I didn't feel, "Maybe he just needs to clear his head."

"Maybe." She went to the fridge and removed a can of beer.

"Ritsuko called," I said after a pause, "she said there was a Medical Exam tomorrow and she needs to brief you about Unit Zero."

"I'd better tell headquarters about Shinji."

"Don't bother, they already know. Ritsuko told me that they've got Section Two looking for him."

Misato gave a small laugh at that, "that's unusually efficient for them."

We fell silent; I flicked over a few pages while Misato finished her beer; the constant sound of the rain created a gloomy soundtrack for the room.

I broke the silence, "what will happen now?"

Misato shrugged, "You'll become the primary combat pilot until Shinji comes back."

"Understood."

I stared at the papers in front of me nervously; if an angel attacked tomorrow I would have to face it alone. Could I destroy it with my mediocre sync ratio and combat skills?

"I'm off to bed," I said, after a while "I've got to get up early for the examination."

Misato nodded as she started on her second beer, she raised the can in acknowledgement.

"Sleep well."

I glanced into Shinjis room as I passed and shook my head sadly; I thought he was braver than that. I guess I didn't know him at all.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Who invented early? Was it some attempt to break mankind's sprit with endless rain and sleep depravation? Who would schedule a medical exam for five in the morning without needing a mental exam themselves? I lent back against the wall outside of the medical bay, with those thoughts raging inside my mind and my hands wrapped around a cup of coffee I had managed to scrounge from the canteen on my way. After only four hours sleep I was running on caffeine.

I sighed and took another sip of the black liquid as I waited for Ritsuko to organise the medical equipment to her liking. She was picky when it came to her tools, almost like Sergeant Kelly, the thought brought a smile to my face; his gear had to be one hundred percent perfect or else he would not use it. The pre-maintenance check usually took as long as the job itself.

Approaching footsteps caused me to look around, hopeful expecting Ritsuko to usher me into the room for the test so I could go home and sleep sooner, but instead locking eyes with the blue haired girl. She was still wrapped in her bandages with her school uniform on underneath. Usual considering it was a Saturday.

"Good morning Ayanami." I said after a brief search of my memory for her name.

"Pilot Harrab." She replied with a slight incline of her head, a nod between equals.

"Are you here for a physical as well?" I asked, taking another sip of coffee.

"Yes."

She sat down opposite me and looked both ways down the corridor, a slight decline of her mouth and eyebrows were the only clue to her confusion.

"Where is Pilot Ikari? Is he not scheduled for this examination?"

"That is a good question." I said under my breath,

"I'm not sure that I understand."

I glanced at her, to see if she was joking, but her face only showed mild puzzlement.

"He's run away," I explained, swirling the dregs of coffee around the plastic cup "But Section Two is looking for him, so he'll be alright."

Rei nodded and pulled a small red book from a pocket and flicked through a fe pages to find her place.

When Misato arrived to take me to the med bay I breathed a sigh of relief, Rei made me uncomfortable. I threw my empty plastic cup into a bin as we passed.

The examination room was large, a desk lined with computer screens in one corner, a folding screen opposite and a table with some sort of scanner attached, between them.

"Good Morning Tanus," Ritsuko said, half hidden behind the desk, Misato lent against the wall behind her, I was surprise she had got in without me seeing, but at this time of the day most things lipped by me. "If you would like to go behind that screen and remove everything except your underwear, then lie on the table, we can begin."

I did as I was instructed, ignoring Misato's wolf whistle as I limped to the scanner,

"Although I do not approve of Misato kidnapping you from the hospital," Ritsuko continued with a glare at the Captain, who had the decency to look embarrassed, "you seem to have recovered from the emphatic wounding quite well. This test should not take long."

In fact it took an hour. Repeated scans on the table, testing my reflexes, taking blood samples and finally an eyesight check and I was free until my sync test in an hours time.

I made my way though the corridors back towards the canteen in search of breakfast, It was still stupidly early in the morning and I hadn't had chance to grab anything back at the apartment. My body demanded payment for the trouble I was giving it.

After a few minutes waiting in line I managed to sit down at an empty table with a meal that would have even daunted Sergeant Kelly back home. My body could be very insistent.

I gave Rei a friendly nod as she sat opposite me with a bowl of cereal, mentally making a note of this break in her procedure, the few times she was seen in here she kept to herself, she seemed to be uncomfortable around large groups of people,

"_Kind of like Shinji,"_ I thought as I watched her out of the corner of my eye.

"How did your test go?" I asked her.

She placed her spoon down neatly next to the bowl before replying.

"My flesh is nearly healed." She said in that soft voice of hers, "I should be able to return to duty in a few weeks."

Her crimson eyes locked with mine before she added: "You are like me."

"Huh?"

"You were also injured during a exercise with an Eva." She said simply. "You should take more care in the next engagement."

"Oh, yes. Thank you." I looked down at the bandages that showed through the shapeless fabric of my coveralls, I had a feeling that she had meant something else. "Not as badly as you though, I'm glad that you're ok."

"Your concern is appreciated." She said as she picked up her spoon again.

We finished the rest of our breakfasts in silence before Rei stood up and left her empty bowl on the table.

"Goodbye" she said and walked away.

"Err. Goodbye!" I called after her nervously and Misato occupied her empty seat, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Her stealth was remarkable; I made a note not to say anything disrespectful of her out loud.

"I saw you putting the moves on Rei," she said mockingly, " You were pretty smooth. You might be in with a chance there."

I revised my earlier thought and threw Rei's spoon at her.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Tanus! Your ratio has dropped by 0.2!" Ritsuko's voice cut through the silence of the plug, "Concentrate!"

"He's thinking about Rei" Misato interrupted cheerfully, " I saw them together in the mess hall. Talking."

"Nice Captain," I replied angrily, "taunt the guy in the giant armoured robot. Lets see what happens when I press this..." I reached for the throttle.

That wiped the smile off her face and I tried to concentrate on the feelings I was getting from the presence. That it seemed to be thinking along the same lines of Misato didn't help, it's disturbing to be mocked by a weapon of war.

My CO's remark had been close to the truth. I was thinking about the First Child, but not in the way she, or the Eva, was implying, I wondered why she had chosen to sit with me this morning when she had barely looked at me before. Our conversation this morning was more that we had exchanged in the past week.

I heard Misato whisper something to Hyuga and they both sniggered, I pressed forwards lightly on the throttle, causing the restraints to groan dangerously as they tried to stop unit five from moving forwards. The laughter stopped immediately.

"Fourth Child's Sync ratio has increased to 35.67," Maya reported over the radio. "He's slowly catching up with the others."

"Okay, I think that's all we're going to get today." Said Ritsuko "Good work Tanus, but try to concentrate. You can take a break until the next test."

The walls of the plug returned to their pale green colour and began to rotate as I moved backwards. Light flooded in as the hatch opened and the crane lifted the command seat clear. I coughed up the LCL that filled my lungs and sent it falling thirty floors to the bottom of the cage. There was a curse from one of the men replacing the leg armour.

I looked into the glowing eyes of the Eva as I climbed out of the seat and again attempted to place the familiar presence that dwelt inside. It was hopeless, whenever I tried to focus the thought slipped away.

"Who are you?" I asked it quietly, moving my hand across the armoured face.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Because I was the only combat ready pilot, Ritsuko was putting me through tougher and tougher training regimes to increase my sync ratio and weapon handling skills, therefore increasing my chances of survival. By the time I returned to the apartment that night I knew the location of every armament and interception building in Tokyo 3, what weapons each contained, their effective range and their maximum ammo count.

I dumped my satchel by my bedroom door and collapsed onto the bed.

_"Is this what Shinji had to go through?"_ I thought as I stared at the ceiling, _"maybe that's why he ran. The fate of mankind rests on our shoulders; maybe he couldn't cope with the responsibility. Maybe I can't."_

I sat up and walked to the living room, to where I had left my homework abandoned on the table amongst Misato's empty beer cans, and turned on the radio.

"…And in local news, rumours are running wild on the identity of the Evangelion pilots that successfully defended Tokyo 3 last week," said the radio host, "most believe that they are UN Special Forces, but some have said that they are nothing other then children living in the city, Toei, can you believe that?"

"I think those people are idiots," replied Toei, his voice filled with scorn, "Children piloting giant robots? What, has the world turned into an anime show? The green unit, For example, had just been thrown at its comrade and though several of those fake buildings and it still managed to stand up and charge the attacker. As did the purple one after the green had been damaged. A normal child could not have done that."

"So you agree with the rumour about Special Forces?"

"Absolutely. Only highly trained and experienced soldiers could have operated those machines and faced that monster..."

"The power of rumours." I muttered as I switched the radio off and sat down in the middle of Misato's debris, Sergeant Kelly would have been impressed with the amount of beer cans that littered the place, and I briefly entertained the idea of the two of them having a drinking contest, and turned my laptop to face me. That bout would surely go to the judges. Homework was a more pressing concern Teachers chewed out even UN Special Forces if assignments were late.

I had just found the printouts Toji had delivered when I heard the front door slide open.

"I'm home," Misato called from the hallway.

"Welcome home Misato," I replied, scraping a suspicious sludge from the paper with my hand.

"Any phone calls?" she said hopefully as she joined me at the table.

I followed the phone line through the confusion of papers and cans until I located the answering machine. Its new message button remained dark.

"None," I said with a sigh, allowing it to be buried once more.

"Section two have reported that they have a good idea where he is now." Misato said with an air of mistrust, "Took them long enough."

"You think they're still clueless?" I asked as I struggled to remove the sludge from my fingers,

"Ha, Section two couldn't find their backsides with both hands." Misato snorted, "I don't know why we bother with them."

"Entertainment." I suggested as I finally removed the foul substance from my fingers.

The Captain just laughed.

Half an hour later I gave up on my homework and carefully made my way through the piles of rubbish towards my room.

I sat on my bed and pulled my NERV id from my pocket.

"_The fate of mankind rests on our shoulders?"_ I thought as I stared at the small rectangle of plastic, _"is the weight too much for him?" _I turned the card over and over between my fingers.

"You're having second thoughts about piloting aren't you?" said Misato from where she stood in the doorway,

I shook my head, still flipping the card. "No, I'll still pilot Unit Five."

"But do you want to? We can't force you to stay."

"If I leave there's no one else to do it. Mankind would be utterly defenceless against the next angel. I could never live with that on my conscience."

Misato gave a satisfied nod, as if she agreed with my answer,

"Hang in there kid," she said softly as she slid the door closed.

I remained silent; the ID spinning continuously, its surface reflecting the light from my table lamp, as I wondered what I was fighting for.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The next morning thick fog shrouded the distant buildings of Tokyo 3. I stood in the living room and stared across the mist, towards the skyscrapers that managed to pierce the low cloud level, like a sandcastle contest at high tide.

"Crappy weather huh?" said Misato behind me, taking a pull of her morning beer,

"It could be worse," I replied, "at least its not raining."

"You're optimistic this morning," she said with a smile.

"I've just got a good feeling about today,"

"You have a harmonics test in half an hour, a sync test right after that, combat exercises for the rest of the day and you're feeling optimistic."

" "What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger"," I quoted, grinning, "but Ritsuko _will_ if I'm late for any of today's tests." I picked up my satchel and headed for the door, " I'd better get going, see you later Misato."

"Have a good one," she replied, " I would give you a lift but there are some things I need to take care of first."

Outside of the apartment building the mist obscured anything more then a few metres away, occasionally a car would burst out of the grey wall that surrounded me, miss me by inches and vanish in the opposite direction just as quickly.

I found myself clutching the ID card in my pocket as I walked, as if that small piece of plastic could protect me form being crushed by a car, and I forced my fingers to loosen their grip.

" _Its only fog you idiot,"_ I thought bitterly, my good mood had gone, _"the station to take you to the Geo-front is just a little further."_

Sure enough, a few minutes later I was sat on board a NERV monorail with several orange shirts arguing about the best way to re-route power in an emergency.

"You just need to feed it through one of the data relays," a corporal was saying, "Sure it damages the circuit, but it allows you to send the power exactly where you need it."

"Yeah, and gives you a ton of more work to do," said another, "you'll be crawling through the tunnels for weeks laying a new line, its pointless, just divert the power from one of the back-up systems, they run though the whole base."

"But what if the back-ups fail?"

"Idiot, you know that's impossible! NERV central has the most advanced technology in the world."

"And the most delicate," said a third, a sergeant, "it seems that everything in the base needs one of us constantly repairing it just to keep the Technical division off our backs. They always push their equipment too hard, always finding new ways to make our jobs harder…"

I just sat back and listened to the banter as the train sped through the earth towards HQ. By the time I stepped off onto the platform a few minutes later and headed towards the line of card readers along the far wall, the techs were saying in loud voices that carried towards a cluster of red suited science personnel, that they were the sole reason that NERV worked at all.

I chuckled as I swiped my card through the reader and waited for the heavy metal door to open, the science and maintenance teams started trading insults on the platform behind me. The beige suited guard that stood beside the entrance rolled her eyes; obviously this was a frequent occurrence.

"Bloody techs," she muttered, glancing at her partner at the other end of the platform, "We needs to baby-sit the whole lot of them, Tokyo 3 _and_ the government. They don't pay me enough…"

I nodded, I was naturally biased towards the orange shirts but it was never a good idea to argue with a woman armed with a sub-machinegun, and headed towards the harmonics test chamber as the dispute on the platform escalated. The two guards had slung their MP 5s over their shoulders and drawn their riot batons. I had no desire to be anywhere near the station when they decided to use them.

"The Unit Five harmonics test is in twenty minutes," the PA announced, "all required personnel move to standby status."

That was my cue to head for the nearby locker room and change into my plug suit, dodging around several technical staff as they hurried to take up their stations.

The locker room seemed desolate, a space the size of Misato's living room, the line of lockers leading all the way to the shower cubicles at the far wall. How many Evangelions NERV were expecting to build?

Once I had changed into my dark green plugsuit, I headed towards the control room through nearly empty corridors. I met Rei along the way, the blue haired girl falling into step alongside me; with her bandages removed she could wear her white plugsuit once more.

"Pilot Harrab," she greeted me,

"Good morning Ayanami," I replied, giving her a respectful nod, "I'm surprised to see you here, I thought that unit 00 was still unfinished."

"I have been ordered to attended all training sessions and tests," she replied, no longer looking at me, "therefore I will."

"I understand."

Her red eyes flickered towards me, but she remained silent as I swiped my card though the control rooms reader and stepped inside.

Ritsuko was waiting for us along with her assistant, a couple of tactical staff and an orange shirt leaning against the back wall. I took a moment to examine the room; a bank of computer terminals lined the wall just underneath several large windows that looked out onto four orange cylinders.

"Good, you're both here early, " Said Ritsuko, " as this is your first harmonics test Tanus, I'll just go over the procedure. Listen carefully..."

My eyes glazed over as the tide of science jargon washed over me, occasionally a word I would recognise would float to the surface, like "the" or "Tanus", before being pulled back under by more complex words. Rei however paid rapt attention.

"… Do you understand?" the doctor finished, looking at us expectantly, the first child nodded and I quickly imitated her, if I didn't Ritsuko might go over it again.

Just then the door slid open for a second time and Commander Ikari crossed the threshold. My old training kicked in.

"Room, 'shun." I said, snapping to attention, Rei and the techs did the same. The commander ignored us and instead spoke to Ritsuko.

"Dr Akagi, I want the forth child's data from this test forwarded directly to my terminal as soon as it is completed. "

"Yes sir."

I glanced at Rei from the corner of my eye; she was oblivious to everything in the room besides the commander, like a dog when its master was near.

The elder Ikari turned from the doctor and his gaze swept over us, he gave a quick smile at Rei that vanished just as swiftly as soon as his eyes met mine, then he was emotionless once more.

"Pilot Harrab, your test results report that your sync ratio is far behind Rei's, as primary combat pilot that is unacceptable. You will have additional training until it has reached a satisfactory level. Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir." I gave the only reply I could while my mind was whirling, why does he smile at Rei and never at Shinji? Why was he so interested in my results? Just what have I gotten myself involved in?

He gave me a cold stare that lasted longer than was comfortable, and then he made for the door.

"Dr Akagi, I leave Pilot Harrab's training in your hands." He said over his shoulder as the door closed behind him.

I stood at ease while Ritsuko brushed some imaginary dust from her skirt, seeming a bit flustered.

"Go and board the harmonics plug," she ordered me, "the test will last two hours, so we'd better get started." Techs sat at consoles and started to enter commands.

"Captain Katsuragi," the PA called as I hurried towards the test chamber, "Please report to isolation facility 3, I say again, Captain Katsuragi report to isolation facility 3 immediately."

"_Have they found Shinji?"_ I thought as I sat back into the command seat, _"or are they arresting Misato for stealing office supplies? God knows how many NERV coffee cups and pens are lying around the apartment."_

On a sudden impulse I glanced up at the command centre windows and my eyes locked with Rei's. A word flashed though my mind, banishing all other thoughts,

_Ally._

The hatch slammed shut.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Two hours later,

"Lower the graph depth another 0.4." Ritsuko ordered, her eyes focused on the live video feed of the forth child,

"Lowering now," Maya reported, an alarm on her station beeped once before falling silent, "Unit 05 has reached the edge of the contamination zone," on screen Tanus frowned briefly and shook his head slightly, "stand by," she checked the system as the alarm sounded again, "correction, harmonics are normal."

"Amazing." A tech breathed, "every time he reaches the contamination zone he pushes it back and his score increases. If his sync ratio matched his harmonics, he'd be a powerful pilot."

"Lets keep the test going a little longer," said Ritsuko, pushing her glasses up the ridge of her nose, "see how far he can go."

"Yes ma'am,"

Ritsuko looked over at Rei, throughout the test the blue haired girl had hardly moved and had kept her expressionless gaze on the sealed plug below, if she was uncomfortable in her plugsuit she gave no sign of it.

The door behind them opened and Misato joined them; her face locked in a scowl, moving to stand behind Maya, and glancing briefly at the plugs below.

"Shinji, you idiot." She muttered under her breath,

"Section two have found him have they?" said Ritsuko, entering another command into her terminal. Her friend nodded.

"Shinji's developed the wrong attitude over the past two days though, if he pilots Eva in that state of mind he'll be killed. So he's leaving Tokyo 3 this afternoon."

"But we need pilots." Said Maya desperately; "another Angel could attack any day now and the forth child is not fully prepared! He still needs to improve his sync ratio and his skill in hand-to-hand combat! "

"Don't worry Maya," Ritsuko reassured her, " I'm sure Tanus will be able to cope until unit 00 is ready."

"What do you mean?" Misato asked,

"Just take a look," said the doctor simply, standing to allow Misato to sit at her station,

The captain did so and opened the harmonics graph.

"Are these readings accurate?" She asked after a few seconds disbelief, "This is his real harmonics score?"

Ritsuko nodded, smiling faintly and Misato stared at the screen again.

745.29.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The inside of the harmonics plug was different from the one I was used to, the controls were not attached to anything and I had no idea if I was supposed to do anything or not. So far just sitting here appeared to satisfy. Above me Unit Five was secure in cage six, I could feel it shifting in its restraints slightly as it slept and the ghost of the presence hovered near my head, but piercing headaches kept arising every time I tired to "move" my mind towards it.

One of those headaches was bothering me now and I tried to shake it aside like I had the others, but it resisted, sending fingers of pain through my skull as I tried to contact the sleeping presence of my Eva.

"The test is finished," Ritsuko's voice echoed through the chamber as the hatch slid open and the carne whirled into motion. The headache vanished like mist. "That was excellent work Tanus."

The sudden change left me disoriented, was I in the harmonics chamber or the sixth cage? I nearly fell from the chair as it was ferried towards the boarding platform and I spent a few seconds longer getting out of the seat then was necessary to try and organise my thoughts.

"Are you alright?" said Misato, her concern audible even over the radio, "you seem a little shaken."

I stood, gave the windows above me a thumbs-up, and nearly fell forwards.

"It's not unusual for a pilot to have some disorientation after their first harmonics test," Ritsuko explained, "especially with a score this high."

"How high was it?" I asked the windows, my head felt like it was full of cotton wool, "was it good?"

"You peaked at 745.29," said Ritsuko, "if we allowed the test to go on longer you could have gotten higher, but even that score is amazing. See what you can achieve when you concentrate? "

I gave a start and nearly fell again, my hand tightly griping the edge of the seat; I had been expecting another below-average-needs-extra-training result like my sync ratio, maybe I won't have to do that additional training after all.

"You still need to drastically increase your sync ratio Tanus," said Ritsuko, showing her disturbing ability to read my mind, "Your sync test is in half an hour. Get something to eat."

I nodded, still holding the seat in a death grip, something had changed inside the plug and it left me feeling uneasy.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The mess hall was bustling when I arrived, techs trying to grab a snack before the next test, and I took a seat at the far end from the door to wait for the crowd to thin a little.

I lent back in the cheap plastic chair and juggled a few sugar cubes I had found while I watched the group near the counter. My disorientation had quickly disappeared but something still seemed out of place.

Misato appeared from nowhere, snatched two of the cubes out of the air, dumped them into her coffee and sat down with her feet on the table in one fluid movement.

"What is it with Captains and their ninja like stealth?" I asked her, still throwing the last cube from hand to hand, "Every base I've been on, London, Berlin, Tokyo 3, each has at least one officer with the power to appear where they are not expected."

Misato tapped the side of her nose and took a sip of her drink, "Trade secret, you learn it once you get the badge," she smiled around the rim, " I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you."

"Isn't that line a bit old?"

"Maybe. But it gets the job done." She replied with a shrug, "Speaking of which, Section two actually managed to complete a task successfully, they've found Shinji. He was camping in the mountains with Kensuke."

"How is he?" I asked, catching the remaining sugar cube in my mouth and swallowing it, " he'd been evading section two for days. I expect they were pis- annoyed."

"There's nothing wrong with him physically," the captain continued, "but he's in the wrong state of mind to pilot an Eva without being killed, so I've approved his request to be discharged from NERV and he's leaving later today."

"So what about Unit one?" I asked,

"I expect that Rei will pilot it, at least until the next child is found."

"Understood, where is he?"

"He's in isolation, as he is no longer NERV personnel, he's not allowed to wander the base, I'll tell Ritsuko where you've gone."

I nodded my thanks as I crossed the room and headed for the lift to the detention level, I caught a glimpse of the captain as the doors slid closed, she watching me with a proud smile on her face.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The cell that they had placed Shinji in seemed a bit like overkill to me, two reinforced doors, walls made of solid steel and at least four guards, just to keep a fourteen year old boy from "wandering". He must have really pissed off his dad.

"Shinji Ikari," said one of them as the last door opened, "Lieutenant Harrab wants to see you."

"I'm a Lieutenant?" I said in surprise, "when did that happen?"

"When you joined, sir, all Evangelion pilots hold that rank." Replied the guard Sergeant wearily.

I stepped into the cell, the bright corridor lights behind me contrasting with the shadow filled chamber; I could just make out Shinji, huddled on the metal bed opposite the door.

"Are you here to yell at me as well?" he asked, "everyone else has."

"No," I said, leaning against the door frame, "I'm here to talk to my friend."

"Your friend?" he lifted his head from his hands and stared at me,

"Yeah, a fourteen year old boy, name of Shinji Ikari, killed a few Angels a while back, have you heard of him?"

"You think of me as a friend?"

I nodded, removed my ID card from my thigh pocket and span it between my fingers, "Everyone needs a friend."

"I, I haven't had a friend in a while." Said Shinji with a slight smile, "thank you."

"Don't mention it, we're in this together," I said giving the card one more spin and returning it to its pocket, " or not. I hear your leaving later."

Shinji nodded, "Misato thinks I have the wrong attitude."

"Well, I have training exercises for the rest of the day, so I wont be able to see you off," I extended a hand, "Goodbye and good luck, I'll keep the Angels off your back."

Shinji stood and shook my hand, " be careful."

"Pilot Harrab," The PA blared, nearly deafening us as it echoed though the small cell, "Pilot Harrab report to Cage six for Sync training immediately."

"No rest for the wicked." I said with a sigh, "be seeing you."

I stepped backwards and the twin doors slid shut with a clang, followed by muffed clicks as the locks slid into place.

"Isn't all this a bit much sergeant?" I asked the guard as I headed for the lift again,

"I couldn't say sir, prisons are meant to keep people in."

"Yes. I'd figured that out myself, I'm not a normal dumb Rupert, thank you."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The inside of the plug was perfectly silent; expect the occasional status reports over the radio, and I could allow myself to forget all of my problems and listen to the gentle hum of the LCL purification system as if filtered out the carbon dioxide.

"Pilot Harrab's Sync ratio has risen by another 0.02," I heard Maya report over the radio, "current level is 49.89."

"Try and concentrate Tanus," Ritsuko pleaded, "we need to get it higher, but if it stays at this level you wont be able to use the Eva effectively."

"I _am_ concentrating." I said irritably, three hours of being told the same thing over and over was annoying, "I can feel the restraints around me but they are, distant."

"Distant?" said Ritsuko, "how?"

"I can't explain it any other way, that just how it feels."

"Interesting," said the doctor thoughtfully, entering a command into her terminal, "Tanus, does it feel like there's something in the way? Or is it something else?"

I focused on the feeling of the primary restraints on my shoulders, felt their grip tighten, restricting my movement, and found a mental "chasm". I could still feel the restraints, but if I tried to move closer, fear flooded me and the presence seemed agitated, swilling around me desperately,

"What did you do?" asked Ritsuko sharply, breaking my focus, "you ratio just rose five points."

"I, I don't know." I said, the presence had been terrified; I had felt its fear as my ratio had increased. But wasn't a high ratio safer?

"I see," said Ritsuko, examining her screen, "well, I might have an idea of what's causing the "chasm". I'll have to run some things through the Magi to be sure. This test is finished."

Her image disappeared from my HUD and the walls of the plug returned to their pale green colour.

I could still feel the presence around me though; our minds touched before the connection was severed, and a single thought crossed the divide.

Guilt.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Ritsuko tapped her fingernails on the metal desk impatiently while she waited for her phone connect, watching Tanus gaze into the blue eyes of the Eva, like he always did after a test, as if he could figure out the secrets of its construction just by starting. Well, given his history, his curiosity was not unusual.

The phone connected with a click and Commander Ikari's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"What is it, Dr Akagi?"

"Sir, I've discovered what was causing the block in the Fourth Child's sync tests. You were correct."

"Understood. Do all that you can to remove it. You know what is at stake."

"You do know that the third child is leaving Tokyo 3 today don't you? Doesn't having only one operational Eva weaken our defences?"

"We'll reconfigure Unit One's systems for Rei, now that she has recovered from the Unit Zero activation experiment, we can move onto experimenting with the Test type, she will support Unit Five until a replacement is found."

"The problem will have been removed by then sir, I'm sure of it."

"Good." The phone went silent.

"You know what the problem is ma'am?" Maya asked from her seat beside Ritsuko as the doctor replaced the phone in its cradle, "Does that mean you can fix it?"

" It'll take care of itself, Maya, we just need to keep an eye on him."

"Yes ma'am."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Although trapped behind several high-strength restraints, Unit one still seethed with menace. Its bright purple and green armour a direct challenge to its enemies.

"I guess that why they chose these colours," I said to Misato beside me "Camouflage would be pretty useless."

The captain merely nodded, lost in thought, and my watch broke the silence with a high pitched beeping until I reset it, I had set the alarm for when Shinji's train would arrive at the station. I had hoped that I would have been able to see him off but the harsh training Ritsuko has forced on me allowed few breaks. So I was content to honour him by remembering, Friends don't forget each other.

"Well, he's gone." I said the Eva, " I guess you need another pilot, Big Purple."

"The Hedgehogs Dilemma." Said Misato, stopping suddenly, "The closer we become the deeper we hurt. Now I understand, he can't let us know how he's feeling in any other way."

"You mean by disobeying orders he was showing you how he felt about piloting Eva?" I said, trying to keep up, "he was asking for your support?"

"What have I done?" she whispered, "I have to stop him."

"Then lets go," I said, "before the train departs, we have just enough time if we leave now."

Misato turned back towards the lift and started to run, I fell in behind her, my heavy foot falls echoing in the narrow corridor as we headed for the car park, my CO managing to keep ahead of me even in her high heels.

I reached her Alpine almost out of breath. Misato had already started the engine and stomped on the accelerator as soon as I was inside.

The battered Renault leapt from its space like a wild horse, leaving a trail of rubber from its tires as it slid into the main road beyond and accelerated, apparently the beating it had suffered in the past was only skin deep, and I finally managed to fasten my seatbelt. It secured me tightly to the seat despite Misato's erratic driving style trying to throw me against the chassis.

"How long do we have exactly?" she asked, her gaze locked on the approaching tunnel entrance,

"I don't know, four minutes? Maybe less if he's the only passenger, I don't know how the Japanese train system works."

"Hang in there Shinji," she muttered, pressing on the pedal with more force.

We burst from the tunnel mouth into the bright sunshine, the Alpine's wheels leaving the road briefly before crashing back down heavily. The suspension had not survived what ever had beaten the rest of the car,

"I never had chance to ask you," I said over the roar of the engine, "but what messed up your car like this?"

"An N2 mine." She replied distantly as she ran a red light, the Alpine weaving through the traffic, and I made a note to buy one of these when I could. It seems Renault build their cars to last.

We turned into the road outside the train station on two wheels, just as the train was pulled away from the station and Misato cursed, thumping the steering wheel with the palm of her hand, and I climbed out to follow the train's progress out of the city.

"Hey, look!" said a voice, and I glanced at the bench nearby. Sat on it were Toji and Kensuke looking as surprised as I was. Maybe being rescued by Shinji had changed Toji's attitude towards Eva pilots.

"It's the English kid," said Toji, "and that babe."

Misato had climbed out as well and stared after the distant train sadly, I bet that she felt responsible for driving him away.

She turned to get back inside her car, glancing up at the platform a she did so, and gasped in surprise. I followed her gaze and grinned.

On the platform, clutching a sports bag in both hands, stood Shinji Ikari.

" I'm home." He said after a pause.

"Welcome home." Misato replied with a smile.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	5. Storming the Flying Fortress

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Chapter 5: Storming the Flying Fortress.

Misato slid Shinji's bedroom door open slightly and peeked through the gap before she beckoning for me to take up position on the other side of the door; we both suppressed the urge to laugh. I carried a bucket of ice-cold water, Shinji was asleep in the room beyond and there were no prizes for guessing what we were going to do with it. Shinji had kept us both awake late last night cleaning up Misato's mess; needless to say this was her idea.

It was a slightly damp Shinji Ikari that walked with us towards the research centre that NERV had set up around the corpse of the fourth angel. Due to the heavy rain over that past few days Ritsuko had been unable to examine Shinji's latest trophy and she had leapt at the chance that this brief spell of good weather gave her.

The site was made up of prefabricated buildings, like the ones on construction sites to house the workers but on a much lager scale, each connected by a tarpaulin overhang. Beyond was an Eva-shaped clearing complete with chalk outline, like some kind of giant crime scene.

"Where's the police tape?" I said to Shinji as Misato rummaged through a box of protective gear by the gate for helmets, "do we know who did it?"

"It was Shinji in the forest with the progressive knife," replied Misato still searching though the box, finally giving us helmets several sizes too big. We looked like a pair giant mushrooms in the white hats, and I looked even stranger in my orange coveralls.

"Why do you still wear that?" Shinji asked as we were cycled through the decontamination hatch, "your not a tech anymore."

"Hey, they are hardwearing, comfortable clothes." I retorted, "and we have school later, I can't be bothered to change into a clean uniform if we get angel blood over us or whatever."

The final lock opened and a huge white mound, surrounded by scaffolding and science personnel, I whistled between my teeth.

"So this is what the enemy looks like up close." Said Shinji, staring up at the monster above us,

"It seem larger now that we're not in an Eva," I agreed while Misato climbed up a nearby ladder in search of Ritsuko, "its nice to be reminded of scale."

"Magnificent," said the Doctor from directly above us, like everyone except Misato, she was wearing one of the stupid hard-hats, her clipboard in hand as always, "everything but the core is intact, this is an almost perfect sample." She looked down at us and waved, "Thanks, this'll be a great help!"

"Have you found anything new yet?" yelled Misato from her perch halfway up the opposite scaffolding,

"I'm just on my way to start analysis now," Ritsuko replied, "follow me."

She walked towards a nearby ladder and slid down it, somehow managing to remain dignified as she dropped the twelve feet, still clutching her clip board, and led us towards a room filled with computer terminals. Misato and I homed in on the bubbling coffee pot in one corner, while Ritsuko sat at a computer and inserted a disc, the machine began to made whirling noises and the screen filled with numbers and words that flashed past before I could translate, then it was all replaced with a single number,

"601?" said Misato, peering at the screen, "what's that mean?"

"That's our system's code number for "Cannot be analysed."" Said Ritsuko removing her helmet and placing it on the monitor,

"You have no idea what this thing is?"

"Yeah, but we do know that the angel is composed of a type of matter characterised by both particulate and wave properties, like light."

"Weird." I muttered, taking a sip of my scalding hot coffee,

"But you've at least found its power source right?" asked Misato,

Ritsuko drained her cup before replying, "something like that, but we have not been able to figure out how it works at all."

"So we've finally found something outside our experience."

"It's a whole new world of mysteries," replied Ritsuko entering a command and standing up, "For example, take a look at this. This is the Angels inherent waveform pattern."

Misato leaned in closer, "What about it?" the screen changed and she gasped, "This can't be…"

"Yes. Although composed of a different form of matter, their actual composition, in terms of the arrangement and spacing of the pattern, is a 99.89 match to humans."

"99.89?" I echoed, "odd."

"It shows how limited our level of understanding really is."

I leaned closer as well, wanting the mass of symbols and colours to make some kind of sense; my sleep-deprived brain was having trouble making connections.

"What do you make of this Shinji?" I asked him,

Shinji was not looking at the screen; instead he was peering around the doorframe at something out of my view,

"What's wrong?" said Misato, leaning on his helmet and staring down the corridor as well, Shinji gave a start,

"Well, oh, nothing."

"Shinji," the captain replied with a sigh, still leaning on his head, "are you aware that when you say "nothing" in that tome of voice, you might as well be shouting out for us to pay attention to you? Nothing draws attention like evasive actions."

"Its just that my father seems to have burned his hands."

"Burned them?" replied Misato, sounding confused,

"I was just wondering how it happened."

"Maybe he drank some of this coffee." I suggested, dropping the cup into a bin, "It's awful."

"I'm not sure," said Misato thoughtfully, "do you know?" she turned to Ritsuko,

"It was before you three joined us," she began, taking her seat again, "Unit Zero went berserk during the activation experiment, you've heard about that right?"

"Yeah." Shinji replied with a nod,

"It was bad, the pilot was still trapped inside,"

"That was Rei, right?" I said, leaning on the desk, "that's how she got those injuries?"

"Yes, and it was Commander Ikari who rescued her, he opened the super-heated hatch with his bare hands."

"What? My father did that?" said Shinji, seemingly shocked by the show of compassion from the Commander,

Ritsuko nodded, "that's how he burned his hands."

"Hmm. Weird." Said Misato, checking her watch, "Well, we'd better get you guys to school or you'll be late."

"Misato? Could you get off my head now?"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The first subject of the day was, to my annoyance, P.E. I like a good game of basketball as much as anyone, but my past experience of playing it outside in the freezing drizzle put me off the subject. At least here in Japan it was warmer.

I was stood alongside the sloping wall that lead to the main school buildings with Shinji, Toji, Kensuke and about half of the class, while the other half were on the court, but I was the only one watching the game.

Some well-meaning designer had placed the swimming pool where some one on the diving board could look out across the city before diving into the water. Unfortunately for the girls of class 2-A, it could also be seen from the basketball court.

"Oh my God, those guys are looking at us!" one of them yelled, pointing an accusing finger,

"Those perverts!" said another,

"Freaks!"

"Hi Tanus!"

"Suzuhara's ogling us! Gross!"

"Man, they've all got such incredible breasts," said Toji conversationally,

"Uh-huh," said Kensuke, wiping the condensation from his glasses,

Shinji was staring at a hunched figure by the diving board, with her blue hair she was unmistakeable, I tapped him on the shoulder, "see anything you like?"

He gave a yelp and spun round to face the game, red as Misato's jacket, and the rest of us laughed,

"He's ogling Rei," said Toji, "Mr Big Shot wants to get some!"

"No I wasn't!" spluttered Shinji, blushing a deeper red,

"Oh come on!" protested Kensuke, "we saw you looking!"

"Yeah at Rei's breasts," said Toji leaning closer, "her silky thighs, her calves, her,"

"Naughty bits!" they both chorused while I doubled over, I was laughing so hard,

"Looking to "insert your entry plug?"" I said, once I had recovered, with a suggestive wiggle of my eyebrows,

"Look, its nothing like that," he replied,

"Then what where you looking at?" demanded Toji,

"You can't fool us Shinji!" added Kensuke

"I was just wondering why she's always alone."

That stopped the laughter, and Toji looked thoughtful as he sat back on his heels, "now that you mention it, she hasn't had any friends since she started her in the seventh grade,"

"There's just something about her that makes her hard to talk to," added Kensuke, "like she's in her own world."

"Right then Lads!" yelled the teacher, making us all jump, "if you've got time to stare at pretty ladies, your not doing enough exercise!" he pointed to the running track and blew his whistle, "Lets do some Laps, Hustle up! One, two, one, two!"

We got to our feet with a groan and headed for the track, Toji and Kensuke keeping pace with Shinji,

"You guys are Eva pilots too right?" said Kensuke, "you should know her better than all of us, know what I mean?"

"Yeah that's right."

"I suppose," replied Shinji, "but we don't talk."

"I've spoken to her a few times." I said, "She seems nice enough."

"When was that?" asked Shinji,

"About two days ago, just after our medical exam."

"What did you talk about?"

I shrugged, "nothing much, mostly the tests."

"Come on Ladies!" bellowed the teacher, like he was a sergeant out of those old army films, "This isn't a Tupperware party! Get Running!"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Shinji was quieter then usual for the rest of the day, although he kept sneaking glances at Rei, and the school chat rooms were filled with rumours that the two where closer that they appeared. I had logged on for a few seconds to check my emails and had been bombarded with questions from the other users, it got so bad that I disconnected my laptop from the sever physically, and instead had to concentrate on the lecture our history teacher was giving us on the aftermath of second impact. I may have actually learned something.

Later, back at NERV HQ, I could allow my troubles to dissolve into the LCL of my entry plug. I listened to the radio chatter of the different departments while I waited for the test that we just finished in the Geo-front to be downloaded from our recorders to the Magi. It had been a gruelling two-hour, melee combat trial, our Evas sparring with practice progressive knifes. Shinji was sat inside Unit 01 to my right, and the Orange Unit 00 opposite, all of the Evas were chest deep in the red cooling fluid, I could feel it through the nerve link, the liquid flowed between my Eva's armour plates.

I opened a video link to unit one, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired."

"Don't worry, just this left then its back to the apartment for dinner."

"It's going to be instant curry again." He said with a groan,

"According to the packet. I'm waiting for the Magi to get back to me with their analysis of last week's."

"Hey!" Misato's face appeared on my HUD and I mentally swore. I forgot that the command frequency could patch into the others. "Are you implying that I'm a bad cook?"

"No ma'am," I replied, desperately trying to climb out of the hole I was in, "I was just wondering what delightful treat you have in store for us."

"Humph, well, you'll have to wait and see." The captain's window vanished.

"It's Curry." Shinji and I chorused,

Movement around Unit 00 caught my eye and I increased the magnification of my cameras, maybe they were moving the timetable forwards and would try to reactivate it now.

Instead it was Commander Ikari, he stepped off the lift and walked towards where Rei was climbing out of her plug, and she ran to meet him with a smile of her face, I heard a mutter from the video link, it seemed that Shinji was watching as well.

Before I could say anything to him Ritsuko's face popped up,

"Sorry about that." She said with a shrug, "there was an error with the Magi direct link, so we had to reroute the test results through some other systems. Stand by for plug ejection."

There was a thud, and the walls started to rotate, the view outside returning to the pale interior. I quickly tried to connect with the presence before the connection was cut, to see if I could gather any clues to what it was, but all I recovered was the same feelings of guilt and fear.

The hatch sprang open, the sudden brightness of the cage light nearly blinded me and the crane started its usual duty to carry me to the umbilical bridge. I slid off, and walked towards the lift to the lockers, eager to get home so I could finally get some sleep. I fell into step with Shinji on the way,

"Are you okay?" I asked him, "You seemed troubled."

"Its nothing, Tanus, I told you, I'm just tired."

I nodded, not believing a word of it, but if he didn't want to talk about it I wouldn't force him.

We descended in silence, each lost in out own thoughts, accompanied by the hum of the elevator, and I wondered about my Eva,

Ritsuko had given me a more detailed data file about Unit Five a few days ago and I spent some of the my free time reading though it. Apparently it had been constructed at Matsushiro using British parts, and had been designed as a Long Range support and assault Eva.

The other Eva's seemed a little too delicate for my tastes, not that anything about a robotic killing machine the size of a skyscraper was fragile, its just that they needed more protection as they closed with the angels or they could get shot to pieces. My Eva was that Protection.

Equipped with the strongest amour that could be mounted on an Evangelion's frame and powerful sensor equipment with direct links to the original Magi installed in its left shoulder pylon, it lived up to its designation: Advanced Combat Model.

Its major weakness, according to Ritsuko, was that although other Evangelions relied on its formidable firepower and detailed targeting data to pin the target in place and absorb any return fire, it needed the other units as well. It may be tougher but lacking the agility and speed of the other models, it could be outmanoeuvred, isolated from a power source, then destroyed with relative ease if sent into battle unsupported.

I hoped it wouldn't come to that, but Commander Ikari seemed like the type of person who would send me to my death if the situation demanded it.

The file also hinted that several upgrades existed to enhance or change the Advanced Combat Model's combat role, but Ritsuko had told me that the time it took to change the parts was far too long to be useful in combat.

I was suddenly aware of my own mortality as Shinji and I got changed out of our plugsuits, and I found myself longing for the safety of my entry plug.

_"Idiot!"_ I thought, _"You can't spend the rest of your life hiding in your Eva!"_

Misato was waiting outside the locker room for us with Ritsuko, to my surprise, the Doctor looked like a different person out of her lab coat and dressed in civilian clothes. She seemed a lot calmer as a result, probably just relief to getting out of the facility for a while.

"You guys ready?" asked Misato, brushing her hair out of her eyes, " I managed to convince Ritsuko to join us, so it'll be a party!"

Shinji and I exchanged worried glances; did Ritsuko know about Misato's "skills" at cooking? Or was this the price of her freedom?

I nodded at the captain, "It'll be a scream."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"What is this stuff?" asked Ritsuko as Shinji ladled Misato latest culinary achievement onto her plate, some of it clung onto the spoon.

"Its curry!" replied Misato, as if it was obvious,

"You mean you're still eating this instant junk?" said Ritsuko, poking the mound on her plate with her spoon while I watched her with nervous curiosity from where I was sat at the other end of the table, awaiting the explosion,

"You're a guest, so you've no right to complain," retorted Misato; taking a swig from her sixteenth beer of the evening, we had arrived back twenty minutes ago, as Shinji scooped some of the curry onto my plate before turning to our guardian.

"Misato? Don't you want any?" he asked noticing that she didn't have a plate,

"Whoops, sorry about that." she reached down beside her and lifted a steaming pot of instant ramen into view, "Slop some of that onto this stuff."

"You've got to be kidding?" I said eyeing the label "isn't that against the UN's biochemical laws or something?"

Misato ignored me as Shinji filled the tub, "Ordinary curry-flavoured instant ramen can't be this good. Dig in guys."

Ritsuko, Shinji and I glanced at each other, silently daring the others to take the first taste, while Misato shared her cooking wisdom,

"The trick is to put less hot water into the soup so it forms a sludge."

I scooped up some of the curry and took a bite, the others did the same, and the spices hit me like an Eva's fist, Shinji went pale and Ritsuko choked,

"Misato cooked, right?" she asked weakly,

"Yeah." Replied Shinji, his face as white as a sheet,

"You can tell?" said Misato shovelling her ramen into her mouth with every sign of enjoyment,

"By the taste,"

"It's great!" I lied, before draining my glass of juice. There was a thud from the next room, "And I think Pen-Pen likes it too,"

"You two should consider moving out," said Ritsuko, wiping the sweat from her forehead, "you shouldn't let one bad roommate ruin your entire life."

"But we're used to it now," protested Shinji, back to his normal skin tone, and I nervously ate another spoonful, safety is one thing but I hadn't eaten for hours, and this was the only thing available. Again came the Eva's Fist.

"He's right Ritsuko," Misato slurred over my frantic coughing, "never underestimate the ability of the human animal to adapt to his environment." She drained her can, throwing the it over her shoulder and into the bin with surprising accuracy, "Shinji could you get me another?"

"Right," he stood up and headed for the fridge,

"I know Tanus has another place ready," Misato continued, "But Shinji will have to go through a lot of paperwork and red tape. He just got his permanent security pass."

"Damn. I forgot again," cursed Ritsuko, grabbing her handbag and rummaging through it, "Shinji, I need a favour."

"What?" he returned to the table and passed a fresh can to Misato,

"This is Rei's new security card," she said, giving it to him, "I keep forgetting to give this to her, would you mind delivering it to her before you go into headquarters tomorrow?"

"Sure,"

He stared at the card for a few seconds longer than necessary and Misato seized her chance, an evil grin on her face,

"Your staring at Rei's picture, aren't you?"

"I'm not!" he yelped, quickly shoving the card into his pocket,

"Oh yes you were Shinji!" Misato giggled,

"I was not!" he replied blushing,

I chucked as I headed into the kitchen for another drink, it really wasn't his day,

"Now you've got an excuse to go over to her place." Misato continued, "Its Official NERV business, she'll have to let you in, this is your chance."

"Stop teasing me!" yelled Shinji sitting back down,

"But I love teasing you, you go so ballistic!" protested the captain, drinking some more beer,

"Just like Misato," muttered Ritsuko, causing the Director of Operations to choke,

"Oh, burn." I said happily from the safety of the kitchen, "score one for Ritsuko!"

"I was just find it strange that I know so little about her, even though we're both Eva pilots."

"She's a nice girl," said Ritsuko, returning her bag to the floor beside her, "but she's like your father, she's not very adept at…" she trailed off thoughtfully,

"Not very adept at what?" I asked, returning to the table with a couple of cans of coke, throwing one to Shinji, "She gets good scores at school."

"Living I guess." Finished Ritsuko quietly, as if she had just revealed some big secret,

"Just a second," said Misato drunkenly, after a few seconds silence. She stared at a point a few inches to my left, "how do you know what her grades are?"

"I ask her." I said simply, knowing that Misato would try and make a joke of it,

"Hah!" said Misato, swaying slightly, " I bet that you wisheded that she muntr pantie.." she fell face first onto the table and began to snore.

The rest of us stared at her for a few seconds,

"That's it," I said with a sigh, "that's all we're getting."

"C'mon," said Ritsuko standing up, "lets get her to bed."

Shinji and I grabbed each grabbed a leg while Ritsuko took hold of her arms and we half carried, half dragged the unconscious captain to her room, dumping her unceremoniously onto her bed,

"I suppose I should get going." Said Ritsuko; "Next time she invites me over, make sure it's not her turn to cook."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Shinji and I found Rei's apartment after looking up her address in the duty roster Misato had in her bedroom, well Shinji looked it up, so much kanji in one place gives me a headache, and walked though the sweltering early morning heat to the eastern outskirts of Tokyo 3.

The first child lived in an apartment building that looked long overdue for demotion, in fact the buildings on the other side of the road were already rubble, and I led the way up a flight of worryingly unstable steps. It was a long climb, but neither of us dared to use the lift.

"What number was it again?" I asked over my shoulder,

"402," replied Shinji glancing at a piece of paper in his hand, "it should be just down here." He pointed down a corridor to our right,

We found the apartment easily enough; the name Ayanami was engraved just above it and the letterbox was crammed with junk mail and newspapers.

I pressed the doorbell, but like everything else in the building, it was broken.

"No luck," I said, "shall we go in?"

"We can't just leave it out here. She'll never find it"

"Well volunteered," I replied, patting him on the back, "I'll wait out here."

"Um, okay." He said, uncertainly trying the handle, the door swung open easily, "Hello?" he called, "I'm sorry for intruding. It's me, Shinji Ikari. I'm coming in okay?"

He stepped though the door and it closed behind him, I lent on the balcony wall and gazed across the construction site towards the mountains, this place had a good view at least.

I fished my tape player out of my satchel and switched it on, the banter of the radio hosts masking the sounds of collapsing masonry for a few minutes until the batteries ran out.

"Bugger," I muttered in English, I hadn't gotten the hang of Japanese swearing yet, and using my own language made me feel better. I heard the door behind me open,

"What took you so long?" I begin, turning around and nearly colliding with Rei, "Oh, I'm sorry Rei, I didn't see you."

"I am uninjured, Pilot Harrab," she said with that incline of he head I was getting used to, "good day."

" You too, I'll see you at headquarters later," I said to her retreating back, as Shinji joined me outside, "you took your time," I said to him with a grin,

"Nothing happened!" he said quickly, "I just tripped."

"What are you talking about?"

"Never mind. Lets just get to headquarters."

"Sure."

We followed Rei to the nearby train station, as we were way out of our familiar territory, and boarded the train to head quarters right behind her. I sat down opposite her while Shinji went to the rear of the compartment, Puzzled by his actions I went to join him, rummaging in my satchel for a fresh set of batteries for my tape player,

"Damn it, hey have you got a extra set of AA's?" I asked him, still searching between my schoolbooks, "Mine are dead."

He didn't answer, and kept his gaze on the empty seats in front of him. I waved my hand in front of his face, "Hello, Earth to Planet Ikari, what's the weather like there? Over."

"Huh?"

"I was asking if you had any batteries I could borrow," I said, dropping my tape player back into the jumbled mess of my bag, "but we're nearly there now, so it doesn't matter."

"Sorry."

"No problem, I'll get some more later."

The train slid to a halt at a small entrance to NERV and we disembarked, Shinji keeping me between himself and Rei as we crossed the platform.

"What's with you?" I asked irritably as we waited in line for the only working card reader, "she doesn't bite."

Rei seemed oblivious to Shinji's actions as she swiped her card through the reader, the screen flashed red, and she tried again.

"I thought that you gave her the new card at the apartment." I said impatiently, "Here, I'll give it to her now."

I took the card from him and lent forward, pushing it through the reader as I did so, the screen flashed "Good morning Pilot Ayanami." and the door opened,

"This is your new card," I said holding it out, "Shinji was supposed to deliver this to you."

She stared at it for a second then snatched it from my hand and was gone though the door before I could say anything.

I scanned my own and followed her, standing behind her on the escalator down to the locker rooms,

"Look I'm sorry." Said Shinji ducking out from behind me,

"About what?" said Rei, not turning round,

"Erm, I. Aren't you having your re-activation test today?" he asked changing the subject, so now I was really confused, "Aren't you scared Rei?"

Rei remained silent and Shinji stepped past me "Aren't you afraid that it might go wrong again?"

"That's a bad attitude to take," I muttered, still trying to keep track of the conversation,

"Aren't you Commander Ikari's son?" the blue haired girl asked quietly, "don't you have faith in your fathers work?"

"Of course not!" said Shinji angrily, "How could I ever trust him again?"

I suddenly had the feeling that he had said the wrong thing, and my suspicions were confirmed when Rei turned round and slapped him, her hand leaving a red mark on his cheek, before stepping off the bottom of the escalator and disappearing inside the woman's locker room.

"What was that all about?" I asked my friend as we headed for our lockers,

He didn't reply and I shrugged, some day all of these suppressed thoughts were going to comeback and haunt him.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The simulation cage control centre was filled with techs, some sat at consoles and others standing around them holding clipboards and even Commanders Ikari and Fuyutsuki where present; standing just in front of the large windows over looking unit 00. Shinji and I stood near the back changed into our plugsuits, ready for today's tests.

"Rei," said Ikari, his voice being transmitted to the entry plug, "Can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"We will now begin the Unit Zero Re-activation Experiment. Initiate primary connection," he ordered and immediately Ritsuko began to issue her own,

"Connect the main power supply,"

"Activation voltage has passed the critical point," reported Maya after a few seconds,

"Roger," the doctor replied, "shift format to phase two,"

Through the reinforced windows I could see the Orange head of the Eva rise as power flowed through it, its single eye as expressionless as the pilot inside it,

"Connecting pilot to unit Zero," said another tech, Aoba I think his name was, "opening circuits."

"Pulse and Harmonics are normal." Said another tech I didn't recognise, "no problems detected, we are in sync."

"All nerve links check out normal, no error corrections," reported Maya, "the check list is satisfactory up to 2590. Approaching absolute borderline, 2.5 more, 1.7, 1.2, 1.0, 0.8, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4," the single eye began to glow red as the borderline neared, " 0.2, 0.1 and rising, borderline clear, Unit Zero has been activated."

"Roger," replied Rei, "beginning Interlock test,"

Just then the red phone near where Fuyutsuki was standing beeped and the Vice-Commander answered it,

"I understand." He said after a few seconds, he turned to his superior, "Ikari, an unidentified object is approaching, it could be the Fifth Angel."

I gave a start, a new angel?

"Abort the Test," the Commander ordered, "All personnel, go to alert status Level One."

"You're not going to use unit zero are you?" said Fuyutsuki, returning the phone to its cradle,

"She's not ready to fight yet. What's the status of Units One and Five?" Ikari asked,

"They can be ready in 380 seconds," replied Ritsuko promptly,

"Make it so." He turned to face Shinji and myself, "what are you waiting for? Get moving!"

"Yes sir!" I replied, and left the room at a run, leading the way through the maze of corridors to cage six. Though I seemed pretty calm on the outside, inside my mind I was panicking, hoping that I didn't mess up and got myself killed.

My command seat was waiting for me by the time I reached cage six and I quickly strapped myself in, my panic less now that I was close to my Eva. Once I was inside I quickly let my training take over as I went through the launch sequence.

"This is Unit Five," I said over the radio to the command centre, "Power is connected, releasing primary lock bolts and restraints."

"Roger, the target is now intruding into Lake Ashino airspace, move to the launch pads and standby for further orders."

"Unit five acknowledges. Moving now."

The last of the restraints and supports were pulled away, and the two Evas were pulled towards the catapult bay, the supports snapped into place.

"Both Eva's are ready for Launch."

"Roger, Control to all Eva Units. You are authorised to engage the enemy at will, don't allow it to get any closer to the city. Move out!"

There was a thud and I was forced into my seat as we rocketed upwards, at the same instant my HUD was filled with static and warning lights lit up across my cockpit, there was a huge electromagnetic field in the area and it was disrupting my computers.

"We're detecting a high energy reading inside the target!" Aoba shouted, Misato spun round to face him

"What?!"

"The circumference area is accelerating and massing upon itself!"

"A Particle beam cannon?" Ritsuko gasped in amazement, "It can't be! "

The shuddering stopped and we emerged into the daylight, on opposite sides of the target, shaped like two pyramids stuck together by their bases, its edges were alight with energy. My HUD flickered as it overloaded and I desperately tired to re-calibrate it, I needed that targeting data.

"All Units. Take Cover! Now!"

The edge of the Angel closest to Shinji flared like a small sun, and a beam of blinding light cut through the buildings separating them, and stuck him in the chest before he could even think about dodging the shot. The building melted like wax and Shinji screamed in pain as the beam cut through his chest plate.

"Pull him out!" I yelled, feeling my final locks disengage and I sprinted for an armament building, my AT field flicked as it unfolded. "Hurry!"

My HUD returned as the beam disengaged, its target now safely beyond its reach and I ripped open the wall of the weapons building, pulling out one of the Eva-sized Missile Launchers, the ammo count appeared in the bottom of my screen as the Eva's computers interfaced with the weapon.

I spun round, shouldering the launcher as I did so and immediately my HUD dissolved into static again, bright lines covered the Angels surface as it prepared to fire. I swore and switched to manual aiming, the targeting mask descended over my face and gave me the view down the weapons barrel.

The energy lines converged, flaring at the same moment I pulled the trigger.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	6. Knights of the Realm

Chapter 6: Knights of the Realm.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The launcher kicked against my shoulder as it sent a missile speeding towards the target, its built in computer correcting the inaccuracies of my snap shot, and the particle beam came the other way.

Time slowed as the beam came straight towards my face and I cringed, knowing it was too late to evade it and expecting to feel the flimsy armour that covered my Eva's neck and face melt away like ice before I was turned into to a wisp of vapour by the unimaginable heat.

The presence howled defiance inside my mind and I felt the Eva twist slightly away from the shot, too slowly to doge it entirely, but ensuing that it hit my weapon instead, reducing it to molten metal and detonated the missiles that remained in the magazine.

The force of the explosion tore away the right pylon and sent burning shrapnel deep into the side of my Evas' head, and I clutched at my own face as I felt the pain through the link.

My HUD flickered again and fear flooded my veins. The Angel drifted closer, preparing yet another shot, it was impervious to my weapons, how could I stand against this? My mind went blank; all my training was lost in the glow of the particle cannon. I backed away.

"Ma'am? Misato? What should I do? Its no good, I can't stop it!"

"Fall back to the other side of Lake Ashino," Ritsuko ordered; "we'll pull you back to the Geo-front there. It should be out of its range. Fall back now!"

The presence swirled its agreement, so I turned and ran at full speed away from the Angel, terror lending me swiftness as I pushed the throttles as far forward as they would go, and fled along the southern highway, jettisoning my cable when it drew taunt.

The Angel had won round one.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The bandage that covered the left half my face itched like hell, but Ritsuko had ordered me not to remove it, even if it did restrict my vision of the data analysis room's main screen, so I had to live with it. The other occupants of the room watched an automated tug boat pull a balloon model of Unit one across the water and I wasn't surprised when the Angel annihilated it,

"The Angels particle beam cannon has hit the balloon," Aoba reported, "it's been vaporised."

"Deploy the next decoy." Misato ordered and the view on screen changed to look over a railway tunnel just as a train emerged, pulling a huge barrelled cannon. The train had hardly slowed when the weapon fired, sending a shell the size of a small car across the lake to bounce harmlessly from the angel's AT field. The response was swift.

"The type twelve mortar has been destroyed." Said Aoba,

Misato sighed, "yes I can see that," She lent back in her chair and chewed on her pen, "what do we know about the targets abilities?"

"Judging from the data we've collected," said Hyuga from a computer that ran down the side of the room, "we assume that the Angel automatically attacks any target that comes within a certain range. So, there is a 100 probability that anything that enters that range will be destroyed. Its too risky for close range combat in an Eva, isn't it ma'am?"

"What's the status of its AT field?" she asked, her gaze on the video feed,

"Still active," replied another tech, the view on the main screen changed to a slow motion view of the mortar shell bouncing from it, "its strong enough that the spatial changes in phase are visible to the naked eye."

"Needless to say," added Hyuga, "using normal means of attack, guided missiles artillery and bombs, would inflict more damage on us then on the angel."

"Its almost perfect," muttered the captain, "a real flying fortress." She stared upwards at the ceiling and I couldn't help but join her, as if we could see through countless layers of armour and concrete, "what's it doing?"

"At this moment the target is directly above us, penetrating the Tokyo 3 null zone," said a third tech, "a giant, shielded drill with a diameter of 17.5 metres is boring towards the Geo-front."

"Looks like it's going to attack headquarters directly," said Hyuga, pushing his glasses up his nose,

"What's its ETA?" said Misato

"Six minutes, fifty four seconds AM, just after midnight," said the second tech, "at that time it will have breached all twenty-two levels of defence armour and have penetrated headquarters itself. Its about to make contact with the first one now."

"What kind of condition are the Eva's in?" Misato asked the video feed to the seventh cage where Ritsuko was overseeing the repairs,

"Well, Unit One's chest plate was melted down to the third layer," she said checking a clipboard, "but the good news is that the central control cluster sustained no damage."

"Given three more seconds, and it would have shot right through the Eva," added Maya, "it will take three hours to replace the melted parts."

"The damage dealt to unit five was moderate, burns along the right torso and shoulder," continued Ritsuko, "the head's almost untouched, but the right pylon mount is useless for now. We'll need more time to replace it fully, but as it's unnecessary for the Eva's operation, I recommend we leave it be."

"What about Zero?" asked Misato, "can it fight?"

Ritsuko shook her head, "the reactivation shouldn't be a problem, but there's still a feedback error remaining, it wouldn't survive."

"Understood, thank you." the link to the cage snapped off and the Captain massaged her temples, shutting her eyes as she did so, "Hyuga, what's the status of Unit One's pilot?"

"No physical damage, but nerve pulses are up by 0.8. That's within acceptable limits."

"Talk about high pressure situations." Muttered the Captain darkly, "we're under siege."

"Why don't we raise a white flag?" suggested Hyuga,

"I'm willing to go out again, ma'am" I said, retuning my gaze to the main screen, "I won't let you down."

"No!" snapped Misato, so loudly I stepped backwards, " I do have an idea. Tanus, come with me." She stood and walked to the exit with me trailing in her wake,

"Where are we going?" I asked, running to keep up with my CO's long strides, "to the cage?"

"First to my office, to run a simulation through the Magi, then the Commander's, I need his authorisation for a few things"

"Why, what're you up to?"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"You're going to use a sniper to shoot the target from outside its firing zone?" asked Commander Fuyutsuki a few minutes later, his voice echoing in the cavernous office,

"Yes sir," replied Misato from where we were stood at attention in the middle of the strange carving on the floor, "instead of trying to neutralise the Angels AT field, I believe that a pin-point shot with a focused, high-energy beam is the only way."

"What do the Magi say?"

"The responses were two affirmatives and one conditional affirmative sir," I said, holding up the printout, Fuyutsuki took it from my hand, quickly scanned the document, and then passed it to Ikari,

"The probability of success is only 8.7 percent." He said

"It's the highest value we could get." Insisted Misato,

"I see no reason to reject your plan," said Commander Ikari from behind his interlocked hands, "you may proceed."

"Yes sir." We saluted, turned on our heel and marched from the room, Commander Ikari watching us impassively. I'd rather fight the angel than remain in that office any longer.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Once we had exited the command level, Misato immediately ordered me to get my Eva ready for launch.

" We'll launch you through path 56," she said two minutes later as Unit five backed towards the launch pads, "once you reach the surface follow my vehicle, its time for us to go get our new toy."

The hydraulic locks engaged around the emergency batteries hastily attached to my back and remaining pylon and I rocketed upwards, cursing under my breath. I hated the catapults. They always made me feel sick, and the possibility that the Angel could toast me lessened my enthusiasm.

The launch route I had taken was the eastern most that we had available and screened me from the target behind some mountains as I emerged into the afternoon light. I saw a NERV VTOL lift off from a pad to my right and it circled over my head,

"Are you ready Tanus?" came Misato's voice, slightly distorted by static and the roar of the aircraft's engines, "once we disengage your cable you will have eleven minutes until you shut down. That should be enough to get the rifle and return with time to spare."

The aircraft banked eastwards as a timer appeared in my HUD, and I set off after it, leaping over highways, rivers and the occasional hill as I struggled to keep it in sight, I was doing a lot of running today.

My Eva covered the distance easily with its long strides and the presence seemed to be enjoying not having the umbilical cable limiting its movement, I felt it swirl around me happily and examine the scenery as the trip drew on.

Reaching the lab only took three minutes, but to my clock-watching mind, it seemed longer, and the sight of an Evangelion suddenly appearing over the hills caused quite a commotion to the citizens that lived near the JSSDF lab.

Civilians pointed up towards me with mixed reactions, some fearful, some waving and cheering as I gave the town a wide berth and waded through the nearby lake. I snapped my Eva's head towards them and gave them a textbook salute, the presence mimicking my own amusement as the crowd cheered again.

Soon I was standing beside the cluster of hangers that hosed the laboratory, the gate guards shifted uneasily, clutching their weapons. Neither would meet the blue gaze.

The VTOL touched down inside the lab's perimeter fence and Misato jumped out, followed by Hyuga, and headed towards the entrance, placing her beret on her head as she walked, I could see the determined look on her face from here.

She had left her radio on, so I could hear her conversations and demands to various members of the JSSDF. She was soon guided to the chairman's office.

"I've come on behalf of NERV to formally requisition the prototype self propelled Positron Cannon, as of three pm today."

"But," I heard the man reply, "this just… so ridiculous!"

"We'll do out best to return this in as close to its original condition as we can," she continued smugly, she disliked the JSSDF and this was like Christmas come early for her, she could order them about and get some cutting-edge gear while she was at it, "where is it located?"

"Hanger Four," said the chairman wearily, "Container 152, Take it,"

"Thank you for your co-operation sir, have a nice day. Did you hear that Unit Five? Hanger Four, Container 152."

"Yes ma'am," I said, stepping over the fence and heading for a nearby building, with the number four handily painted on the roof, the gate guards stood like statues, unsure what, if anything, they could do to stop a machine that could crush them underfoot like lice.

"Wait a second." Said the unknown speaker, "just what is that going to…"

I thrust my fingers under the roof supports and lifted it up like the lid of a lunchbox, much to the surprise of the buildings occupants, and lifted a container clear.

"Be careful," warned Misato, her voice filled with satisfaction, "that's a very delicate piece of machinery." She was going to be unbearable for days after this.

"Ma'am," came the voice of Hyuga, "our calculations show that it will take at least 180 million kilowatts to penetrate the Angels AT field. Just where are you planning on getting that much power?"

I was checking the number on the side of the box I had removed, and allowed the roof to fall back into place with a thud so I missed most of the reply,

"… Japan."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"The drill has just broken though the sixth defensive layer." Aoba reported, "Only sixteen remain."

I was stood in the Primary control centre, two hours after returning with the position cannon, acting as Misato's assistant, while she ensured that her plan was coming together properly,

"What's the status of the power supply system?" she asked Hyuga, who was seated at his usual place on the second highest level, beneath the commander's "throne".

"We're running about…" he checked some data on his screen, "3.2 behind schedule, but we should be finished at about 23:10."

"And the positron rifle?"

"For the honour of Technology Development Section 3," said the head of the department from the armoury, "I bet we'll have it built in three hours."

"Ritsuko how's our defence?"

A video feed from the eighth cage popped up on the main screen, it was dominated by a huge black object with Ritsuko stood on the walkways before it, looking tiny compared to it. "Well, a shield was the best we could come up with," said Ritsuko, "it was sort of part of the space shuttle." She gave an embarrassed cough, "It may look ugly but it has an electromagnetic base coating that Section Two guarantees will withstand the enemy's particle beam for at least seventeen seconds."

"Good work Ritsuko," said Misato and the link closed, "have you found a good location for the fire team, Hyuga?"

The giant hologram that hovered in front of the main screen flashed, and a mountain to the south of lake Ashino glowed red,

"Taking geographical features and access to power transformers into consideration, this is our best choice." Reported Hyuga. "Preparations are already underway."

"Excellent," said Misato, leaning closer, "Everything's looking good. Our sniper team will attack from the peak of Mount Futago." she stood upright and spoke to the room, "We will commence at 00:00 hours tomorrow morning. From this moment the operation is code named Operation Yashima!"

"Roger!"

She turned to me; I hurriedly stood to attention and saluted. Misato smiled as she returned the salute,

"You've done well today, go and spend some time for yourself."

I nodded gratefully, "I need to replace my bandage anyway," I said, giving my face a scratch, I was sure that Ritsuko made it itch on purpose.

My first port of call was the med bay where Ritsuko changed my bandage with a fresh one coated in some kind of anti-septic that made the wound burn worse than when I'd first received it.

"Oh stop complaining," she said as I swore, returning the bandages to a cabinet, "The pain will pass, although there might be a scar."

I went pale and she laughed, "So scared of messing up your skin?" she teased, "I'm sure the girls with find it very attractive. You'll have the macho warrior look going for you." With her job done she left, chuckling, while I looked for something heavy to throw. With the practise Misato was giving me about Rei, I was confidant I could hit her from this distance.

The next destination was Shinji's room, via the canteen for a cup of coffee, and I arrived just as Rei was leaving, we our exchanged our usual respectful nods and I ducked inside.

My friend was awake and staring at a new plugsuit on his lap,

"How are you doing?" stepping around a trolley with some food on it; "you got hit pretty bad."

"Oh, hi Tanus," he said, "I'm fine now," he stared at my bandage and swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Don't worry," I reassured him, "its just a scratch, I've still got both my eyes."

"What happened?" he asked and I sat at the foot of the bed, taking a sip of coffee as I did so,

"My weapon exploded, just after the angel got you" I said simply, "Burnt Unit Five all down its right side and totalled my right weapon pylon. I got off pretty light."

"Oh, I see." he fell silent for a moment, "You must be used to combat then, you seem so calm when you fight."

I laughed, " Thanks, I've fooled you at least."

He gave me a puzzled look, so I explained it to him

" I get my bravery from my commanders. I have faith that Misato would not put me in harms way without good reason." I touched my wound with a hand, "today taught me caution at least."

I stood up, "You'd better eat that," I said, with a nod towards the tray, "we're leaving in half an hour. Then its payback time."

Shinji nodded and I left him alone, heading towards cage six at a slow walk, and I wondered why he kept piloting when it obviously caused him so much pain.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The deployment of the Evas was unusual, as Unit One had to carry the huge positron rifle and Rei the shield we couldn't use the normal launch tubes. Instead we used an old lift that apparently had been used to transport supplies down to the Geo-front during the base's construction, which deposited us in the mountains near the school we all attended, and we walked in single file along the ridge, silhouetted against the night sky with Shinji in the lead, holding the rifle with exaggerated care. Even with Ritsuko's modifications it was a huge weapon, nearly as tall as the horned Eva that carried it.

Rei was expressionless on the video link, calmly marching in step as we neared the firing location, carrying the shield like it was standard issue, while I brought up the rear, glancing at the distant angel fearfully with my good eye, expecting a beam of white-hot energy to cut one of us down at any second.

Unit One lowered the Position rifle onto its tripod slowly, while I placed Unit five slightly behind him where I had a clear view of the Angel and checked my own weapon, jamming the rifle stock into the soil to inspect the barrel. I had chosen the pallet sniper rifle mainly for the superior magnification that it gave me, as its firepower was laughable compared to the monster that Shinji would be firing, my range finder told me that I was close enough to him to get a secure link for my targeting data, but far enough that any electromagnetic field would not interfere with the instruments.

"Listen up!" said Misato, appearing on our HUDs "here are the battle plans for the operation, Shinji, your unit will be the gunner,"

"Right,"

"Rei," Misato continued, "you will cover him with Unit Zero, and Tanus will act as spotter. Got it?"

"The reason for this arrangement is that Shinji has the highest sync ratio," explained Ritsuko, also appearing on screen, "this operation will require an exceptionally high level of precision."

"But I've never practiced with this before," said Shinji nervously,

"Don't worry," Ritsuko reassured him, "Just wait for the cross hairs to converge and pull the trigger, Unit Five's computers will handle the details."

With the roles assigned we deactivated our Evas, climbed down newly erected scaffolding and waited for our part of the operation to begin. I even managed to grab a few hours sleep, laid back against Unit Five's warm flank until Shinji awoke me half an hour before midnight.

A strange feeling had befallen the summit, I noticed as we climbed up the scaffolding towards the entry plugs, a sense of tension as the hour approached, techs hurriedly finishing their tasks and running for shelter. Rei was already waiting and Shinji joined her while I lent against the rear support and checked the mission timer on the back of my right wrist.

We stood there in silence, three Eva's and their pilots inspecting their distant enemy, I glanced back over my shoulder at Unit One, and smiled, the trio of giants reminded me of a knight of legend, Unit One with its "lance" as the knight, knelt at prayer, with Unit Zero as the Shield bearer, and my Unit Five, the angle it was holding its rifle in one hand suggested "standard bearer".

Soon we would challenge the dragon.

"Rei, why do you pilot this thing?" Shinji asked the girl, dispelling my daydream,

There was a long pause before she replied, "Because I'm bonded to it."

"You're bonded?" he asked

"Yes, it's a bond."

"You mean to my father?"

"To all people,"

There was another awkward pause, and I shifted uneasily in my plugsuit, feeling like a trespasser, this was obviously a private conversation.

"You're very strong Rei." Shinji said as I quietly made my way towards my Eva,

Despite the distance the reply cut through the night,

"I have nothing else."

I pulled open the hatch and climbed inside, hurriedly slamming it closed behind me, as I wondered why I hadn't left yet, I could die doing this.

As the LCL poured in from the small reservoirs either side of the cockpit and the HUD lit up, I felt the Eva come to life underneath me, wiping away all of my doubt and fear with its reassuring presence. On my forward view I saw the other two pilots head towards their respective Evas, Shinji staring after Rei for a moment before closing his hatch and the plug slid forwards.

"Unit five has been activated," I told control, "Targeting systems are online and functioning properly."

"Roger," replied Maya, "Connecting Unit Five to One, stand by."

The mission timer on my HUD crept ever closer to midnight and I had to do the most difficult part of my job,

Wait.

For twenty minutes I sat in my plug, eye on the timer, while orange shirts connected the positron cannon to the national grid. The presence focused on the distant target, hatred smouldering dangerously inside it, it's longing for vengeance after its earlier humiliation was almost palatable.

"Commencing Operation." Said Hyuga, and the timer disappeared,

"Shinji, we are entrusting you with the entire nations power," said Misato over the command frequency, "I'm counting on you."

"Roger,"

"The data linkup is nominal," reported Maya

"Initiate primary connection, Do it!" Misato ordered

"Beginning power transmission from districts 1 though 803." Said Hyuga,

I listened nervously as the entire Japanese power grid was diverted into the rifle and Shinji worked the bolt action, placing a fuse into the breach.

"Nine seconds until optimum charge,"

"Designating the target," I said, surprised at the calm in my voice as my targeting computer lit up the Angel like a Christmas tree, it was going to be difficult to miss that. "Target lock confirmed. Transferring fire control to Unit One."

Suddenly Maya cut though the status reports with the news we had feared,

"High energy reading detected inside target!"

"No, not now!" cried Ritsuko as Hyuga continued to count down the time remaining, as soon as he reached zero I yelled to Shinji, my Eva making a chopping gesture with its hand towards the Angel, emphasising the command.

"Take it out!"

A cluster of blue light gathered at the weapon's barrel, before screaming across the lake at the same time that the white beam from the angel came the other way, the two lances of energy repelling each other and distorting their headings, probably saving our lives.

The Angels shot missed us by feet and impacted on the slope behind us, showering us with dust and stone fragments.

The near miss buffeted me around my plug and overloaded my targeting computer, my view of the outside turning to static.

"Did we miss?" I heard Ritsuko ask through the distortion,

I tried to reset my computers but it had no effect, the walls of the plug remained a jumbled mess.

"I can't see!" I said over the radio, "my computer's fried!"

"The drill has broken into the geo-front!" a tech reported

"Hurry! Second shot!" Misato ordered,

"Commencing Unit Five targeting system reset."

"Replacing fuses, beginning recharge."

"Barrel cooling in progress,"

My computer came online again in time to detect another high energy reading from the Angel, its rate of fire was amazing.

"Look out!" I warned, "It's firing again!"

By the time the words had left my mouth the second blast was already crossing the lake and bearing down on the vulnerable sniper team,

There was a blur of orange as Unit Zero stepped over us, shield raised, and blocked the shot, spreading it across the heat resistant surface.

"The shield can't last long!" cried Ritsuko and before I knew what was happening I was beside Rei, using my Eva's strength to push against the constant pressure of the particle beam, and fire flowed over both of us.

It was like trying to block a fire hose with a piece of cardboard. The heat was slowly melting both the shield and its two bearers. We both pushed against the rapidly softening surface with all our might, desperately trying to buy time for Unit One, his positron rifle was our only way to destroy it.

Pain rushed through the link and my armour fused together, the fire burning the exposed flesh on my Eva's arms, but I kept pushing, gritting my teeth as I fought the powerful beam.

"Are we ready?" bellowed Misato through the static,

"Ten- ore –econds!" someone replied before my radio cut out,

I felt the presence mimicking my movements, reinforcing them, its strength merging with my own, and I pressed forward, the shield was barely recognisable as it melted like candle wax under a flame.

I became aware of an empty space beside me and saw that Unit Zero had collapsed; its armour melted and fused together, when a blue beam cut though the air by my waist, travelled parallel to the white, punched right though the angel, and carried on into the mountain on the other side.

The heat and pressure dissipated instantly as the angel dropped like a rock and I staggered forward, panting heavily,

"We, We did It." I gasped, " We won!"

The radio was filled with cheers from the command staff, but my attention was focused on the fallen Eva as Shinji abandoned the rifle, ripped open Unit Zero's neck armour to grasp the plug and pulled the deformed cylinder from its back before ejecting his own.

I stretched out my Eva's hand, the palm was the only place not burnt, and I lowered Shinji's plug to ground level. If would be a hollow victory if he fell to his death in his haste to rescue Rei.

I watched the tiny figure climb out, run towards the emergency release hatch of the Unit Zero's grab it in both hands, seemingly oblivious to the super-heated surface and pulled it open.

In the distance the angel was burning, filling the sky above the city with thick black smoke, and I laughed with relief. It was over, for now.

The Knight had slain the dragon.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	7. Healthy Competition

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Chapter 7: Healthy Competition

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Three days later.

I spent this morning trying to fix Pen-Pens fridge, the bird had somehow managed to jam the door open so I was up at what Sergeant Kelly would call "Stupid O'clock", in my trusty coveralls trying to find the source of the problem,

"Hand me that soldering iron would you?" I asked my assistant, my head buried in the mass of wires of the rear of the fridge,

"WAAAARRK!" It was passed in.

"Thank you,"

I heard someone's bedroom door open and I greeted him or her from within the tangle,

"Morning."

"Morning Tanus," replied Shinji, "you're up early today."

"Yeah, well, my forearms were sore so I got up to apply some of that ointment Ritsuko gave me and thought I might as well sort this out." I scratched the bandages; they made me look like a street fighter reject, before pulling myself free of the wires.

"What's wrong with it?" he asked,

"He's jammed the door open."

Shinji headed for the kitchen to make breakfast, and I delivered a swift kick to the side panel. The door slid shut.

"Ha!" I said triumphantly, "Score one for Percussion Adjustment!"

Pen-Pen waddled up to the controls and pressed the button. It opened smoothly and he went inside,

"You're welcome." I muttered, wiping my hands on a rag attached to my tool belt, "honestly I don't know why I bother…"

Misato's door slid open and she emerged into the kitchen, dressed only in her underwear and headed for the beer fridge, completely ignoring the two of us as she focused on her morning alcohol consumption. I concentrated on packing away my tools while Shinji took a class of Toaster Watching.

"Methinks that there is some blood in her alcohol system." I muttered to Shinji, joining him at the table, Misato was on her second can already,

"YEEEEEEHAAAAA! That's the way to start your morning!" she yelled finally acknowledging us from her perch on the table, seats are obviously for lower ranks.

"What's wrong with Coffee?" Shinji asked irritably, I think he was fed up of picking up the scattered cans,

"You got a problem with tradition?" She retorted, pulling a shirt over her head, "A traditional Japanese breakfast is rice, miso soup and a little sake."

"Your tradition maybe," I said, taking a bite of my toast,

"And wasn't it your turn to make breakfast?" added Shinji, "well, we all know why a woman your age is still single."

"Are you saying I'm lazy?" she growled,

"Don't forget sloppy."

"Oh just leave me alone!" she snapped and I gave Shinji a high-five,

"Got her." I said, "You really shouldn't fall for the bait Misato."

"We're finished." Said Shinji, gathering the plates and heading towards the sink, "Consider it payback for last week."

She snorted and buttered a slice of toast with more force then necessary, shoving it into her mouth while fixing me with a glare.

"Are you really coming to our school today?" asked Shinji from the sink,

"Of course! It's your Parent-teacher meeting."

"You just seem so busy at headquarters," he said, "doesn't it add a lot more to your workload?"

"Oh its no problem, you guys are part of my job anyway." Said Misato dismissing the matter with a wave of her hand,

"Its only part of your job huh?" I heard him mutter just as the intercom shrilled and Misato lent over to grasp the phone,

"Hi!" trilled Misato, "yes, they are just getting ready, I'll come let you in."

Shinji went red and he protested as she hung up the phone, "Misato, you shouldn't go out like that. Its embarrassing."

"I know!" she chuckled, but stayed in the kitchen as Shinji and I left, with Toji and Kensuke peering around the doorframe to try and get a glimpse of NERV's director of operations.

"You're both embarrassments to the species, did you know that?" I said as Shinji and myself pushed the drooling pair out the door.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

School was the same as always, boring lectures about second impact interspaced with other slightly more interesting subjects and the welcome ten minute breaks.

During these breaks Shinji would lean out of the window towards where cranes where dismantling the distant angel corpse and would enter his own little world. I spent the time reading my book, occasionally scratching my bandaged forearms.

" And to think you killed that." I said to him after a particularly boring history lesson, "you, a fourteen year old boy. You must be pleased with yourself."

"I guess," he said with a shrug,

We were interrupted by the rapidly approaching sound of an engine in stress, accompanied by the shriek of brake discs,

"Oh dear god," I muttered, joining him at the window as Misato's blue Alpine sped into the car park and slid into an empty space like a drunken ice skater. The rear bumper fell off. Again, looks like I would have to reattach that later.

There was a rush of bodies behind us and Shinji and myself were pushed away from the window as Toji and Kensuke, his camera in hand, took our positions along with the other male class members.

"She's arrived!" cried Toji happily as Misato climbed out of the car and waved up at them,

"Is she Ikari and Harrab's guardian?" someone asked,

"What? They live with a babe like that?"

"Idiots," I heard Hikari mutter behind me and I gave her an embarrassed shrug, returning to my desk,

"Man, I wish I lived with Misato," said Toji,

"Oh no you don't." said Shinji behind them,

"You just don't get it do you?" said his two friends together, they stood either side of him and slapped his back, "Ok, you can keep the earth safe, and the two of us will take care of Misato!"

"I hope you like instant ramen." I said from behind my book.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

7:52 PM.

NERV HQ.

The lift from the cages was quite crowded after the evenings final sync test, Shinji and myself were joined by Misato, her assistant Hyuga, Ritsuko, and Maya, who was clutching Ritsuko's clipboard, Shinji was reading his Eva's technical file and I rummaged though my satchel in search of batteries for my tape player.

"What's the status of Unit Zero's bio-chest components?" Ritsuko asked Maya while the lift descended,

"It was seriously damaged, we have to make an entirely new one, even though it brings our budget close to its limit." She replied promptly

"What about Unit Five's arms?"

"The repairs were finished just half an hour ago, I also had them replace the pistol with a Progressive knife, simulations and actual combat exercises showed that a knife would be more useful."

Ritsuko sighed, "Will our job get any easier once we acquire Unit Two from Germany?"

"It could go just the other way," replied Hyuga, pushing his glasses up his nose "disposing of the dead Angels costs a bundle."

"This place is ridiculously under financed." Added Misato, "considering that mankind's future depends on us."

"It can't be helped," said Ritsuko with a shrug, " "Man cannot live by Eva alone." All the other people need money to live too."

"Is the Commander off at another conference again?" Said Misato with a yawn.

"Yes, he's on his way there now."

"Its nice to have a little peace and quiet." Added Maya

"Maybe I could get that Second Impact essay finished." I said, giving up on the battery hunt, "its due on Monday."

"Most of the history books are wrong," Said Ritsuko as we stepped off the lift onto one of the walkways that criss-crossed the base, "Its all a cover up anyway."

"What?" said Shinji looking up from the folder, "Everything we've learned about Second Impact is a lie?"

"Yes," Ritsuko nodded, "the history books would have you believe that it was caused by a massive meteorite, but most of the truth was suppressed by the UN. Fifteen years ago, mankind found the being know as the first Angel in Antarctica. However, in the middle of the investigation and for unknown reasons, the Angel exploded, causing massive devastation."

"Then, what we are doing here is," Shinji began,

"Is to defeat the angels and prevent Third Impact. That is the sole mission of NERV and the Evangelions."

She turned to Misato, "by the way, the event will take place tomorrow as scheduled."

"I understand." Her friend replied, and the three of us headed for the car park while Ritsuko and the two techs headed back into the base.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The next morning,

"_Maybe it's a good idea that Shinji cooks for us,"_ I thought, as I tried to remove a jammed piece of bread from the toaster with my knife, I wasn't very skilled at cookery but I wasn't an idiot either, so I had unplugged the toaster to avoid electrocution.

"What are you doing?" Shinji asked me from the table,

"Screwing up the simplest of tasks in a complicated fashion," I replied, using an old saying of Sergeant Kelly, "I've almost got it-,"

Suddenly the bread came free and the toaster fired it across the room, over the sofa and out the far window, trailing burnt crumbs. We stared after it for a few seconds in shocked silence,

"That's out then," said Shinji weakly as I carefully placed my bread-cannon back onto the table, next to my morning coffee, "maybe I should make breakfast again today."

"Would you?" I asked, still staring after the projectile, "I think I may have killed someone."

Just then Misato joined us, instead of the usual half-naked drunkard we had been expecting, she was dressed in her formal parade uniform.

"Good morning." She said with unusual coherence, adjusting her beret.

There was another shocked pause, we were getting quite good at them, before we replied,

"Morning ma'am." I said with a salute,

"Yeah, good morning." Added Shinji, grinning nervously,

"I'm going to Old Tokyo on business, I'll be getting back late so you guys should have something delivered for dinner," she pulled on her shoes, picked up her handbag and headed for the door, "have a good day."

"Erm, ok." Said Shinji, as Misato left,

"Why's she going to Old Tokyo?" I asked him, "I thought that it had been abandoned after someone dropped an N2 mine on it."

Shinji shrugged, "Who knows? If it interests NERV it's probably some new weapons or something, far enough from people in case something goes wrong."

I nodded and concentrated on the tea in my cup, according to our teachers Old Tokyo was in the centre of a series of zones abandoned since Second Impact. So using them to secretly develop new weapons made sense. If no one could live there, they might as well blow it up in the name of national security.

I placed my cup on the table and booted up my laptop, opening my Second Impact assignment and reading the four pages of "official" UN-sanctified rubbish I had written.

"I guess Kensuke was right," I said to my friend, gesturing towards the screen, "About Second Impact. That's one for the conspiracy theorists all over the world. Well done guys, looks like your trawling though the Internet paid off."

Shinji grinned from the kitchen, "Next up, who _really_ shot JFK? Was it the Martians?"

"Nah, it was a rival in the election, although some Martians may have put him up to it. Those aliens can be sneaky. To the Internet!" I yelled, pointing dramatically at my laptop and pretending to push a pair of glasses up my nose, "the world needs to know the truth!"

The Third Child laughed.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Two Hours Later,

The lake that occupied a third of the geo-front was the only safe place where two Eva's could train in mêlée combat without the risk of crushing anything, the simulation cage was fine for ranged duels but apparently the only way to gain hand-to-hand experience is in real combat.

The water swirled around the waists of Units One and Five as we sparred with mock glaives; the huge metal weapons sending of sparks as the blades met.

I ducked under a swipe from Shinji's weapon and thrust my own towards his exposed chest, he parried it mere inches from his armour and counterattacked with a low sweep with the over end that would have knocked me from my feet if I had not deflected it.

The purple Eva pressed his advantage, his superior agility and sync ratio meant he had far greater control over his weapon than I did, and rained down a flurry of blows that forced me backwards into deeper water that further slowed my movements.

"Both Evangelion's are to cancel the training exercise and return to their respective cages immediately," Ritsuko's assistant Maya interrupted, her face appearing on both our HUDs "Utilise Eva lifts six and seven."

I stopped in confusion and Shinji smashed me from my feet with a powerful swipe to the side of the head, resulting in a small tidal wave.

"Sorry!" he said quickly as I made my Eva stand back up, water pouring over my armour, "I didn't realise we had finished."

I gave the worried pilot a thumbs-up and rubbed the side of my head, "Just save it for the enemy, ok?"

The two lifts rose slowly from beneath the water and I pressed my Eva back against the safety locks, feeling them snap closed before I was pulled below the surface,

"Do you think it's an angel attack?" I asked my friend,

"It can't be," he replied over the rumble of the launch tubes, "they would have deployed us on the surface ready to intercept."

"Well what ever it is, it must be important, they don't halt training exercises lightly."

I lent back against my seat and linked my mind with the presence; it had been avoiding me until recently, causing Ritsuko to lecture me about the importance of concentration, and had regarded me with fear whenever I had forced the connection.

It had seemed to calm down now, what ever it had been worried about must have vanished, and its confusion mirrored my own as the cage restraints wrapped around it, I could sense its craving to be back out in the open air. I soothed it with a thought

Opposite I could see Techs swarming over Unit One's armour, pulling the B type equipment clear and replacing it with bulkier plates. As the purple Eva began to resemble my own, I realised they where upgrading it to the F- type heavy armour and support systems using several cranes built-in to the restraints.

A few orange shirts were examining my own Eva, checking that my own armour was secure and replacing a few pieces they didn't like the look of, although the reason for their substitution was a mystery for me, I wasn't getting any problems about them on my HUD and the training just now showed that they were not restricting my movements anymore than predicted.

"This is why they cancelled training?" I muttered, "to upgrade our armour?"

The speed of the replacement was impressive, and within twenty minutes they had secured the final plates into position and a purple, horned twin of unit five stood in cage seven.

"Equipment change successful," said Maya, appearing on my HUD once more as the restraints were removed, "Units One and Five, prepare for immediate air transportation."

"I have a bad feeling about this." I muttered.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The C-22 Evangelion Transport was a huge aircraft, even dwarfing the Evangelions that they carried under their colossal delta-wing fuselage, very little space was given for the crew. I stood on the walkway between the Eva and the cockpit, one of the few open spaces in the aircraft, and started down at the ground below as we sped towards the ruins of Tokyo.

It looked like a huge battlefield, even though the war had ended years ago, rusted tanks and aircraft still littered the land around piles of overgrown rubble that had once been villages and towns. It was a cruel reminder about mankind's savagery when survival was at stake.

I turned and headed back towards the cramped passenger compartment, the safety harness that I wore over my plugsuit secured me from falling from the exposed causeway, and sat on one of the benches opposite Maya who was monitoring Unit Five's systems via her laptop during the transportation.

She gave me a friendly smile then returned her eyes to the screen, while I examined the view from the small windows that lined the walls, far to our left and slightly ahead, I could see Unit one's carrier, the banks of engines flaring as they fought to keep the heavy load airborne.

"C-22 Alpha, to C-22 Bravo," I heard the radio in the cockpit blare, it sounded like Hyuga, but over the roar of the engines I couldn't be sure, "Starting our descent, you are to remain in a holding pattern until given further orders."

"C-22 Bravo acknowledges," the pilot replied and the left side of the aircraft dipped, below I could see a makeshift airstrip near a ruined dome, "will remain on station."

The other aircraft landed, looking greatly over-sized next to the civilian helicopters that stood nearby, several lay crushed at the bottom of gigantic footprints,

"What happened here?" I asked Maya, shouting to be heard, "was it an Angel?"

"I don't know," she replied, also shouting, "all I was told is to make sure that the Evas' armour was secure and prep them for transportation here."

"Lieutenant Harrab!" the co-pilot interrupted, entering the cockpit with a spare radio headset, "Captain Katsuragi needs to speak to you."

I nodded and followed the man into the tiny cockpit, slipping the headset on my head and seating myself at the commutations station. Misato's face appeared on the screen and I could make out the armour of a HAZMAT suit on her shoulders.

"We have very little time, so I'll make this quick," she said, "our target is Jet Alone, a robot powered by a nuclear reactor and controlled by a sophisticated computer system. Apparently they designed it to be a replacement of you guys," she snorted, "Well, the "Replacement" has malfunctioned and the reactor may meltdown in less then five minutes."

C-22 Alpha appeared alongside, its eight massive engines pulling it skywards once more as Misato continued,

"That's not all," the captain added, "it's headed towards Atsugi, if it explodes…"

"Another Hiroshima?" I said grimly, Misato nodded,

"That's why we cannot allow it to get any closer to a populated area. Hyuga," she turned to some to her right, " as soon as the Eva's have been dropped take the transport up to a safe altitude."

"Yes ma'am."

"C-22 Bravo, you do the same."

"Understood, Captain." The pilot replied,

"Shinji, once your on the ground, I need you to place me onto its back, then the two of you will hold it back as much as you can."

"You're climbing on that thing? To break into it?" I heard Shinji protest,

"That's right."

"But it's too dangerous!"

"Don't worry, I ordered the Techs back at headquarters to upgrade both Evas to the thicker armour. It can handle both the explosion and any radiation."

"Not for us!" Shinji spat, "I meant for you!"

"Shinji's right," I added, "let us cripple it for you, it can't go far with two broken legs and a Progressive knife in the face."

Misato shook her head as she pulled on the helmet, and I could see my own worried face clearly in its orange reflective surface,

"It would still explode," she said, "this is the only way."

"Ma'am, are you sure you want to do this?" I asked,

"Yes. My conscience won't let me do otherwise."

I nodded, "Then I'm ready, Misato."

"Good, get aboard Unit Five and stand by."

I stood, passed the headset back to the co-pilot with a thankful nod and less then a minute later I was sat in the entry plug undergoing the last system check,

"The target has been sighted," the pilot informed me, "stand by for combat drop."

I began to move backwards, away from the main body of the aircraft as the docking arms extended,

"Drop on my mark, three, two, one, mark."

There was a thud, and suddenly I was free falling, the wind rushing over my armour as the ground came up to meet me. I landed heavily, the force of impact driving my feet deep into the rock and I exhaled softly. That had not been pleasant.

I leapt forwards in pursuit of the broad-shouldered robot as unit one landed beside me; the angle of his decent sent him sliding backwards, clutching Misato carefully in one giant hand,

"We've got les than four minutes, put me on now!" Misato bellowed and the two Eva's obeyed, ruined buildings crushed underfoot as we crossed the devastated land with massive strides.

Shinji reached the target first, and grabbed onto the backpack with his free hand, while I ducked around to its front and tried to hold it back from there, cursing as my feet slid on the rock,

"You're going nowhere, sonny." I snarled as I fought to keep my footing,

"I'm inside," Misato reported, "This should only take a sec."

My computers shrieked an alarm; the amount of radiation in that thing was terrifying,

"Misato!" Shinji yelled, his weaker sensors must have been getting the same readings mine were, "Hurry up!"

One of Jet Alone's amour plates burst off at that moment and a stream of super-heated gas shoot out; I covered it with my hand and ignored the blistering pain that shot through the link. A low score seemed like a blessing at the moment.

"I've found the mainframe," our CO reported calmly, as if she wasn't standing in the world's biggest nuke, "now I just need to enter the password and - What the hell?"

Another plate flew off, releasing more gas. Then another, then three more,

"Misato, get out of there!" Shinji cried out in fear,

"We'll contain the explosion the best we can with our AT fields, get out now!" I yelled desperately, my own concern easily detected.

"I'll guess I'll try the long shot." Said Misato, ignoring our panicked advice and there was the sound of something heavy being pushed across a metal surface,

"Reactor core is 0.1 short of critical," someone said on the radio, "My god, it's going to blow!"

"Misato!"

The radio link to the HAZMAT suit cut out at that moment as the radiation spiked and the surface of Jet Alone began to feel unnaturally warm,

"GET OUT!" I yelled,

Jet Alone shuddered and I braced myself for the explosion, eyes closed tight against the inevitable glare, and prayed.

Several seconds passed and I opened my eyes slowly, Jet Alone stood still and silent before me, its spine-like control rods sliding back into its torso as the venting gas vanished,

"Misato?" Shinji whispered, "Misato?"

"I'm ok," she replied breathlessly after a few seconds, "I'm not in the best of shape however."

"You're alive? Oh thank god!" Shinji cried happily, "I can't believe you did it! It's a miracle!"

I stepped around jet alone and the two Eva's high-fived as cheering broke out on the radio from the Jet Alone's command centre,

"How much time was left?" the captain asked,

"You really don't want to know, ma'am." I replied as the two transports touched down nearby and the tiny figure emerged from Jet Alone's backpack,

"Lets go home," she said as she stepped onto Unit one's waiting hand, "I need a drink."

Shinji rolled his eyes as I lay me Eva down behind C-22 Bravo and crawled back into the waiting docking clamps, I had less than thirty seconds left before I shutdown, and recovering me here would be very difficult.

Soon enough there was a distant roar and the two aircraft were climbing towards the heavens once more.

Helicopters and other vehicles were gathering around the statue-like robot, examining it for signs of damage, they were probably already planning their next modifications, and I had a feeling that this would not be the last time we would see Jet Alone.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	8. The Red Baroness

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Chapter 8. The Red Baroness.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Kensuke, if you don't get that camera put of my face right now, it'll take its own trip out of that window." I warned the military enthusiast as he tried to record the entire inside of the transport helicopter we were sat in, "And you might join it."

"Sorry Tanus, Sorry." he said, quickly turning the lens in another direction, "but I never thought I'd get to fly in a MIG 55 D transport helicopter! Having friends like you guys sure is great!"

"You're welcome." Said Shinji with a sigh, Misato, who was sat in the co-pilots seat, turned and gave the four occupants of the passenger compartment a warm smile,

"I thought you guys must be getting sick of being cramped up in the mountains all day, so I figured It'll be nice to invite you all on this little "date"."

"What?" said Toji excitedly, "This is a date with you? I bought this hat especially for today, I'll never take it off!" he adjusted the white cap on his head and fixed Misato with an adoring gaze. I chuckled to myself, his worship of my guardian still made me laugh sometimes.

"So, where are we going." Said Shinji, sounding bored,

"Oh, I booked us a cruise on that cute little boat down there," she replied pointing at something below us,

"Oh my God!" cried Kensuke, pushing his camera up against the window, "There's one, two, three, four, five Aircraft Carriers and four Battleships! What a fleet!"

I joined him at the window and stared down at the cluster of ships, the five aircraft carriers sailed in the centre of a protective ring of frigates with a huge cargo ship just behind them. The battleships were grouped at the front of the formation, their UN flags flying proudly as they forced their way through the waves.

"This is your cute little boat?" Toji asked sceptically, as our transport slowed to hover over the deck of one of the larger aircraft carriers,

"She's gorgeous." Said Kensuke, "that's the pride of the UN combined fleet, the _Over the Rainbow._"

"It's huge." Muttered Shinji and Toji nodded in agreement,

"I'm surprised that crusty old relic can still float." Said Misato, "it was built long before Second Impact."

"The Yanks make good vessels," I added, "Nothing on the Royal Navy of course."

"Of course," replied Misato, rolling her eyes,

Our pilot brought the helicopter down to land on the flight deck, not an easy task in this crosswind, and Kensuke shot out as soon as the door opened.

I clutched the orange hat that was part of my old tech uniform to my head to prevent it from blowing away as I stepped out onto the deck, but the wind snatched Toji's and sent its whirling across the ship, with its owner in pursuit.

"Hey! That's my special hat! Someone catch it!"

The nearby SU-23 Flankers caught my interest for a second, before it was diverted by a commotion by the control tower, or "Island" as it was also known. A girl in a yellow dress with red hair falling past her shoulders had stopped Toji's hat under her foot and was watching the owner's attempts to remove it.

An old memory stirred as the girl turned to face the rest of us and I groaned as I recognised her stance, I really should have thought of this.

"Hello Misato! How've you been?" the girl called, while I tried to remember her name, instead of the many "nicknames" the Berlin Techs had called her. The "Red Baroness" being the least offensive,

"I'm just fine, you sure have grown since I last saw you." Misato replied as the three of us drew closer, Kensuke was still focused on the fighter jets, he probably hadn't even noticed the girl yet. Toji's hat was still under her foot.

"I'm not just taller." the Baroness replied, "my figure has filled out as well."

"Let me introduce you all, this is the pilot of Eva unit two and the second child, Asuka Langley Soryu."

Kensuke's camera lens focused on the German just as the wind picked up again, lifting her dress above waist height, there was a pause, a suggestion of lace, then Asuka leapt forwards, landing solid blows on the faces of all four of us boys. Toji stepped back from trying to recover his hat, anger clear on his face beside the mark where her slap had connected.

"What did you do that for!" he demanded while I stepped back and rubbed my face, she had slapped me on the right side, just below the eye and my scar was still sore.

"That's the viewing fee," the girl replied, hands on her hips, "Quite a bargain, Ja?"

"It's overpriced! But don't worry," spat Toji fumbling with his belt, "Here's your change!"

The trousers came down and for a split second, the German stood frozen by shock, as did the rest of us, but she rallied magnificently and added another slap to Toji's face that made Kensuke, Shinji and myself wince. She stepped past the spluttering boy and resumed her cool, relaxed attitude.

"Which one of these is the famous third child?" she asked, casting a disgusted glance over her shoulder at Toji, "not him?"

"Don't worry Asuka, it's this one." Misato tapped Shinji on the head with her folder; the redhead examined him critically.

"Hmm, not much to look at." She said after a few seconds then glanced at me, her eyes narrowing, "and who's this?"

"Tanus Harrab, Forth child." Said Misato promptly, "he pilots Unit Five."

I gave the second child a respectful nod, we hadn't spoken while I was training in Berlin, I was just a tech and she a Eva pilot, but I knew from the other techs that she had been trainingfor years and had a tendency to explode if things didn't go her way. They treated her with the respect due to an officer, but most of the time kept out of her way.

Asuka glared up at me, she only came up to my shoulder, then turned away,

"Huh, a little boy and a electrician," she said with her back to us, "I've arrived at the right time."

"Yes, we had just run out of Angel bait." I said without thinking, and mentally cursed as she spun around and fixed me with a venomous glare, I was surprised I didn't die on the spot.

I was saved from being thrown off the side of the ship by the arrival of a UN Navy ensign, who marched up to Misato and saluted,

"Captain, the Admiral wants to see you on the bridge immediately." He said, "You'd better follow me."

Misato nodded, gave Asuka and myself a stop-it-or-else look, placed her beret on her head and followed the man back towards the control tower. The rest of us fell in behind, Toji having to grab Kensuke by the collar to divert his attention from the parked aircraft. The "Misato Date Hat" had been safely pocketed, probably for his shrine.

"C'mon, I'm sure you can get better shots from the tower anyway."

"We're going into the tower? Oh, this is the greatest day of my life!"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Hmmm. NERV." Said the Admiral, examining Misato's ID sceptically from his command seat, a younger captain stood at his shoulder also examined it, "From your antics on the flight deck, I was convinced you were the leader of some boy-scout troop. Obviously I was mistaken."

"Thank you for all your gracious hospitality, Admiral." Misato replied smoothly, ignoring the older man's sarcasm. I however glared at him with open anger, how dare he mock my organisation?

"Oh no, Thank you for allowing me the chance to baby-sit so many more children." His eyes fell upon Kensuke who was wandering around the different terminals, "How lovely."

"And thank you for the marine transportation of Evangelion Unit two," said Misato calmly, showing remarkable control in the face of such blatant rudeness, and she removed a sheaf of papers from a folder, "Here are the specifications for the emergency power supply."

The Admiral took the papers, glanced at them briefly, and then passed them over his shoulder to his subordinate, "you've wasted a trip. I'd never authorize the activation of one of those toys while at sea in the first place."

"Toys?" I muttered angrily, starting to push past Shinji, "Unit Five could snap this ship like a twig if I-" Misato stopped me with a glare, and I stepped back to my place behind her, still glowering at the Admiral. Asuka sniggered.

"Why don't you think of this as being prepared for an emergency?" said Misato, acting as if I had not spoken, "the Eva is quite valuable sir."

"So valuable the entire pacific fleet has to be pulled from vital patrols to escort it?" he turned to his second in command, "When exactly did the UN Navy become a bloody cargo service?"

"If my memory serves me correctly, it was just after a certain organisation was established," the younger officer replied, scratching his nose thoughtfully "We had to escort that other one a few years ago."

That comment jerked me from my daydream of Unit five throwing the flagship around like a ball, back to reality, they had transported an Eva before?

"Guarding a Toy." Said the Admiral, staring up at the ceiling sadly, "what a ridiculously grandiose assignment for the entire pacific fleet!"

"Its still not enough, not when you consider the importance of the Eva," said Misato, rummaging through her folder again until she pulled free a single sheet of paper, "sign these transfer documents please."

"Not yet." Replied the admiral flatly "Eva Unit Two and its pilot have been entrusted to us by the Third branch in Germany. You're not going to just waltz in and do as you please Captain Katsuragi!"

"When will you transfer them to us?" My CO said, gently holding me in place with her hand, my tolerance of the man's attitude was reaching breaking point, and threatened to snap entirely when he didn't respond.

"Once we've unloaded in New Yokosuka." The captain replied, with a glance at the Admiral, obviously the attitude was annoying him as well; "we'll sign your papers then."

"The ocean is our jurisdiction," interrupted the Admiral suddenly, staring through the windows at his Frigates, "you and your "Troop" will follow our orders here."

"I understand." Said Misato with a salute, witch I reluctantly mimicked; as I was in uniform I had to, "However, keep in mind that in an emergency, NERV's military authority overrides yours."

"She's awesome." I heard Toji say quietly,

"She sounds just like Ritsuko," Shinji replied,

"Well, you're as confident as always." Said a voice from the doorway,

"Kaji!" shrieked Asuka happily, waving at the man who had just ducked through the hatch. Misato, by contrast, looked like she was going to throw up. Her folder clattered to the floor.

"Mr Kaji, I don't recall inviting you onto the bridge." Said the admiral sternly

"Whoops! Sorry about that sir," said Kaji with a grin; "I'll just wait out here until you and Captain Katsuragi are finished."

Misato muttered to herself, glanced around in vain for another way to exit the bridge, then saluted the Admiral again, "Please excuse us, and transport us to New Yokosuka as Ordered."

With the formalities over, she turned on her heel and herded us all towards the hatch, keeping at least two of us between her and Kaji.

"Awesome!" said Kensuke; the camera must have become an extension of his glasses, "This is so awesome!"

"Calm down, before you wet yourself." Said Toji, rolling his eyes before adding, "This is not how I imagined a date with Misato would turn out."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"What are you doing here?!" Misato hissed as the small lift we were all jammed in descended, I had managed to find myself a space pressed up to the doors were I could stand in minor discomfort, beside me Kensuke was still filming,

"I'm accompanying her," came Kaji's smooth reply, "I guess you could call it a business trip from Germany."

Misato muttered something and shifted slightly, and as I took the chance to try and get a more comfortable position, my hand touched something soft.

"Hey! Watch where you're touching!" The two women bellowed simultaneously,

"I can't help it!" came the reply from Kaji and a squashed NERV tech.

Just then the doors opened and dumped the lifts occupants unceremoniously onto a section of carpeted floor. In the depths of tangled limbs, I found myself breathing yellow fabric.

"Why hello." I said with a chuckle, "Is it my birthday already?"

"Get off me, Pervert!" came the German response,

"I think you'll find that _you _are on _me_," I muttered in the same language as I untangled myself, as did the others with faces in various shades of red, from Asuka's rage to Shinji's embarrassment. He had been under Misato.

I scooped my hat up from the floor and jammed it back onto my head as I examined the corridor, "Mess hall," I read on a nearby sign, acting as though the tumble had never happened "who's up for a brew?"

I stepped through a pair of double doors into the cantina, before homing in on a pair of large metal urns and a pile of cups and saucers,

"How does he do that?" I heard Shinji ask, "Find cups of tea anywhere?"

"It's a knack." Misato replied, while I filled myself a cup, "All Englishmen have it."

A few minutes silence descended as we all sat and concentrated on our drinks,

"So, are you seeing anyone right now?" Kaji asked Misato innocently,

"I don't think that's any of your business, is it?" she replied, in a voice that could have frozen hydrogen,

"That hurt." Kaji replied with a smirk as he took a sip of his tea, "ouch."

He turned to Shinji and myself, at the other end of the table, where I was juggling sugar cubes, "I understand you two are living with Katsuragi."

"Erm, yeah." Shinji replied nervously,

Kaji interlocked his fingers in front of his face, "Tell me something, is she still so-" he shot a playful look at Misato, "Wild in bed?"

The sugar cubes clattered onto the table as my treacherous imagination formed a disturbing image, causing my mind to shut down in horror. Misato went as red as her jacket, while Asuka, Toji and Kensuke went pale.

"Just what are you implying by that!" Misato snapped, standing and leaning across the table towards him, her humiliation replaced with fury,

Kaji glanced at the wrathful officer calmly, before shrugging and facing Shinji once more, "She hasn't changed, has she Shinji?"

"I, I guess." The boy replied cautiously, "But how did you know my name?"

"Well I ought to know you, you're pretty famous in my line of work. I know about Tanus too, of course." He gave me a polite nod, " But you're the famous Third Child, who successfully piloted an Eva in combat with no training. Beat three Angels to boot."

"Oh that, I, I was just lucky." Shinji said shyly, oblivious to the glare that Asuka was giving him,

"Luck is a part of your destiny, it's your talent!" he exclaimed proudly, as if he had been the one who had found him, "well, I have some things to take care of, I'll see you guys later."

He stood, grinned at Misato, who had her head in her hands and was staring at the cup before her, then left the room with Asuka trailing after him like a lost puppy.

"This is just a bad dream," Misato muttered, "It's a nightmare."

I shrugged, her past was none of my concern, and lent back in my chair, "What do we do now? The Admiral refuses to sign your form."

"We'd have to wait until we dock to receive Unit Two anyway," my CO replied seeming to have calmed down now that the source of her anger had gone, "Lets just enjoy the ride."

"Can we go back on the flight deck Misato?" Kensuke pleaded, "I thought I saw a pair of Flankers getting prepped for take off when we were in the tower, and I'd really like to see them!"

"Let us finish our tea first." She said and Kensuke nodded, draining his cup in seconds then watched the rest of us impatiently, Shinji sighed resignedly.

"That admiral's attitude really gets on my nerves." Said Toji a few moments later as the now spacious lift ascended, his partner in crime had returned to Film-Everything mode,

"He's full of myself alright," said Misato, finally removing her beret, "too much pride is bound to make him cynical."

"That mister Kaji certainly is interesting, huh?" said Shinji, who seemed to have been thinking about it, I made desperate cut throat signs to him from behind Misato, warning him to keep quiet. Sure enough our guardian exploded.

"He hasn't changed at all, that chauvinistic pig!" she spat, and Toji edged away from the boy who spoke, fearing retribution.

His caution seemed well placed, as when the lift doors opened Asuka grabbed Shinji by the collar,

"Hey, "Famous Third Child"." She said, as she pulled him from the small space, "You're coming with me."

He looked pleadingly at Misato, but she was staring into the middle distance angrily and didn't seem to notice his abduction.

"I think he got what he deserved." Said Kensuke, as we watched the boy being dragged down the corridor and aboard a waiting helicopter, "annoying Misato like that."

"Oh no!" I wailed mockingly, throwing my hands in the air, "Let Misato, our red-jacketed goddess, smite the unbeliever for his blasphemy!"

"Just because she's your guadian doesn't mean we wouldn't thump you one." Toji warned, raising a fist,

"Really? I pilot a four and a half thousand ton armoured fighting machine and I know where you sleep. Bring it."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The roar of the Su 23's engines reached a crescendo as the catapult locks disengaged and it flung the aircraft down the length of the flight deck, seconds later its wingman followed it, and both aircraft soared skywards.

The two fighters had barely cleared the deck when another pair approached the ship and touched down with almost liquid grace, the arrester gear helping them slow on the short runway and avoid giving a multimillion piece of equipment to the fish. The ground grew quickly cleared the launch area for the next pair.

"You have to admit," I yelled over the noise, "That was pretty cool."

"Your as bad as him," Toji replied, nodding towards the railing where Kensuke was tracking the newly-launched jets with his camera, "you just need-"

I never found out what I needed to become a Kensuke clone, because at that moment the _Cymbeline_ exploded.

"What the hell?" Misato jerked from her bored slouch as pieces of the destroyed light cruiser rained down onto the surrounding water, her expression hardened, "Angel."

The surviving escorts scattered as a plume of water bore down on them, but one wasn't fast enough, seeming to disintegrate as the object slammed through it, before the remains vanished beneath the waves

"We need to get to the bridge." Misato yelled as another pair of jets tore their way towards the clouds, in the distance other aircraft were launching from the aircraft carriers, and soon the attacker was under a hail of anti-submarine fire. "C'mon!"

We followed the woman across the hectic flight deck towards the Island, weaving between the frantic crew and up towards the bridge,

"Hello!" Misato trilled as she leaned through the hatch, "NERV delivery, would you like to order data on this enemy and countermeasures to use against it?"

"This is a combat situation!" the Admiral snapped back, as he tracked the object with a pair of binoculars, "Get the hell off my bridge!"

"This is just my opinion, but that thing must be an Angel."

The Admiral ignored her, instead he spoke into a microphone, "All Ships, fire at will."

"Idiot." Misato muttered, "Its pointless."

Through he windows I could see the escorts open fire, missiles, shells and torpedoes exploding around the distant object. The angel ignored them, instead concentrating on destroying a frigate.

"My kingdom for Unit Five." I muttered as the destroyer joined it's sister ship beneath the surface, "and perhaps a small republic for a pallet rifle."

"Four direct torpedo hits!" bellowed the Admiral, throwing his binoculars to the floor, "Why won't the bastard sink?"

"Only an Eva can beat it." Muttered Toji, glancing at me, I spread my hands,

"Sorry, I'm all out of them at the moment."

"Admiral," the radio operator yelled, "The _Othello_ reports that Eva Unit two is activating."

"What?" The admiral and his second in command turned their binoculars towards the cargo ship, " I gave no such orders!"

"Miss Soryu, on the other hand, seems to have one available." I said, watching the tarpaulin that covered the huge vessel behind us tear as the slumbering giant awoke. Red shoulder pylons punching their way through the covering as it stood upright.

"Huh," I said to myself as the Admiral yelled at the microphone for Asuka to stop the activation, Misato pulled it from his grasp, "Its red as well, How fitting."

"This is bad," said the other officer, watching the giant and ignoring the fight over the microphone behind him, "Unit two only has the standard B type equipment."

"That means no swimming," I explained to my two confused classmates, "and you can guess that's a problem here."

"Patching into the Eva's battle net." The radio operator informed us

"Evangelion Unit two, ready for combat." Came the voice of Asuka as the Eva ripped away the fabric covering its face, revealing its four-eyes.

"If we fall into the water, we're done for." Came a second voice,

"Shinji? Are you in there too?" Misato asked, microphone firmly in hand,

"Yes ma'am. Hi!"

The angel seemed to notice its quarry and cut though one of the other aircraft carriers to get to it, sending aircraft spinning off the flight deck with the impact, but remarkably it remained afloat,

"The _Invincible_ reports heavy damage." The radio operator informed the room at large, and I grinned as I recognised the name as an ex-royal navy vessel, "Unable to launch any more aircraft."

"Have it pull back to the rear of the formation," Misato ordered, "It must be after Unit Two."

Before anyone could reply, the Angel ploughed through The Evangelion's platform, the scarlet machine leaping aside at the last second to land heavily on a nearby frigate with the covering trailing behind it like a cloak.

"Where is it?" the pilot asked, the four eyes scanning the ocean,

"Over there!" said Shinji, before adding, "We've got less than a minute left!"

"I'm well aware of that." Asuka snapped, "Misato, get the emergency power supply unit on to the flight deck."

"I'm on it!" she replied, grabbing a nearby officer, "you! Get it unloaded and connect it to the ships power plant! Hurry!"

"Yes ma'am," the midshipman replied, and ran down the steps.

"Unit two!" Misato yelled, the officer forgotten, turning her gaze back to the mayhem beyond the windows, "Watch your six!"

The Eva turned, saw the approaching leviathan and back-flipped to another vessel just as her last stepping stone exploded.

"Impressive," I remarked, as she landed like a gymnast on the helipad of a cruiser, pulling off the last tatters of tarpaulin, "maybe she isn't just talk."

"I heard that, Tech." The pilot snapped at me in German, "Watch this." and the giant sprang across the open water to land on the bow of the _Rampage_, before somersaulting to another escort, her erratic path drawing her closer to the flagship while the Angel tore through one of the battleships.

"Reactor connection completed," a crewman reported, "cable reel secure."

"All hands, brace for impact!" the Captain ordered as Unit two leaped towards us,

"Unit two, coming in for landing!" Asuka yelled, seconds before she hit the flight deck, the weight of her Eva causing the ship to tilt alarmingly, myself and a few other crewmembers were sent sprawling,

"Here it comes." Shinji yelled, "Nine o'clock!"

"Switching to external power." Said the Eva pilot calmly, as the ship righted its self, grabbing the cable and attaching it to the Eva's spine, "Switch completed."

"We don't have any guns." Shinji pointed out,

"The progressive knife ought to do it."

The red Eva pulled the mêlée weapon from its left shoulder, just as the angel broke the surface, its long snout cut through the water with ease, dipping under briefly to launch itself onto the aircraft carrier, its huge bulk dwarfing the machine that opposed it.

"Its huge." Shinji commented

"The bigger they are…" the Pilot muttered,

The force of the impact knocked the progressive knife from Unit Two's hand, and the control towers windows smashed, pelting the occupants with fragments.

"The harder they fall!"

Unit two drove its fist into the side of the Angels snout, causing it to squirm as it tried to avoid the blows, it must have hoped to crush the Eva with its weight. Now it was firmly in Asuka's territory.

"Looking good Asuka!" Misato cheered, as the crimson Eva rained blows onto the struggling beast,

"This isn't a game! Look at what you're doing to my flight deck!" the Admiral protested, "Hurry up and kill it!"

"Hand to hand combat is the best way to defeat the Angels." Misato explained, "This should be over soon."

Suddenly The Angel hit the Eva with a its snout, forcing it backwards and it lost it's footing in one of the open hanger lifts, plunging into the ocean with the Angel in pursuit

"Look, its sinking!" the admiral cried, leaning out the shattered windows to watch the beasts' decent,

"Asuka, its impossible to fight underwater with the B type load out."

"Well you know what they say, "You don't know until you try."" Asuka replied calmly, in the background I could hear Shinji muttering,

On deck the cable was thrashing around like a whip, smashing the few remaining jets into the ocean, Kensuke whimpered,

"How much cable is left?" Misato asked the room, the young naval captain turned his binoculars on to the reel at the rear of the flight deck,

"One thousand, two hundred meters," he said, reading the digital dial, "What are you going to do?"

"We'll come up with something." Misato reassured him, "Don't worry."

She returned her gaze to the cable, "Your coming up to the end of your power cable," she warned the pilots, "get braced for the shock."

The words had hardly left her mouth when the cable grew taut; the sudden halt pulled the stern of the vessel downwards, water touched the flight deck for a moment before the mighty vessel pulled itself up again. I wondered if the British had any involvement with its construction.

"Eva has lost visual with the target." A crewman told us, Kensuke was desperately searching his pockets, a disk held in his mouth and his other hand holding his precious camera,

"What are you looking for?" I asked,

"I need to change the disk, there's no more room-," he froze, "wow, a Yak 38 custom!"

We followed his gave to the aircraft lift, a two-seater jet was rising from the hangers below, the shape of the fuselage reminded me of a Harrier G4, and even at this distance I could recognise the man in the navigator's seat,

The radio crackled and Kaji's voice echoed though the bridge, "Hey Katsuragi!"

"Kaji," Misato replied, her tone almost friendly, "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I've got to make a delivery, so I'll just be taking off."

"You what?" she bellowed, her friendly attitude blown away in the roar of the aircraft's engines and the jet leapt off the ship and sped towards the shoreline,

"Take care of the rest of this, Captain." He said before the channel snapped closed,

"Aha!" Kensuke yelled triumphantly, slipping a fresh disc into his camera and turning his camera lens towards the now vacant hanger lift, "Aww, damn!"

"He, he ran away?" muttered Toji weakly,

Misato stood as still as a statue, her face twisted with rage, Toji, Kensuke and myself exchanged worried glances then we carefully edged away, I had never seen her this angry before, Mr Kaji would be in a lot of trouble if the two of them met again.

"Ma'am, the target is approaching the Eva again!" the sonar operator informed her, forcing Misato to concentrate,

"Asuka, finish it!" she ordered,

"Roger," there was a pause, then a Germanic curse, "Its not working!"

"It's B type equipment." Shinji replied wearily,

"What are you going to do?"

"What am I? This was your idea!"

"You're the Famous Third Child! Prove it!"

"Look out!"

Suddenly the radio channel was filled with static, and the cable begin to move across the deck again, slipping and sliding as it followed the Eva's movements

"Eva two has entered the targets body!"

"This is just like marlin fishing." Said Toji,

"Fishing?" said Misato distantly; suddenly she jerked upright with a grin, "That's it! Fishing!"

"I'll get my giant landing net." I replied with a roll of my eyes, "I think we have room to mount it on your apartment wall."

Misato ignored me and instead turned to the Admiral, who had collapsed into his chair as he stared out at the remains of his fleet,

"Sir?"

"What, Captain?" he replied sadly, and I felt a moments pity, he had been proud of his ships,

"I'm going to need your co-operation if we are going to destroy the target."

"Very well." the fight had really gone out of the old man and he deferred to Misato's authority without a struggle,

"Its simple, we'll evacuate the two surviving battleships, then scuttle them alongside the cable as a trap, then we'll reverse the cable and pull the angel towards them while Unit two opens its mouth. Both ships will fall into the opening and fire their cannons at point blank range via remote control, destroying the target."

"That's crazy!" he snarled, his pride surfacing again "those ships have served the UN for nearly twenty years!"

"It may be crazy," Misato replied calmly, "but they'll be sunk anyway if we don't stop the angel."

The admiral glanced at his second in command before sighing wearily, "I understand, give the order."

The radio operator began to relay the plan to the two battleships and they abandoned their hunt of the Angel and cut their way through the jumbled wreckage of their escorts to take up their assigned positions.

As they passed alongside I could make out the crew on deck, running towards lifeboats and making sure that the guns firing chambers were watertight. Misato took the chance to inform the Eva pilots of the operation.

"This is the _Kentucky_," the radio blared, "Reporting that we are on station, launch the lifeboats, we're going under!"

"_Illionois_ here, weapons are loaded and ready to fire, opening the Kinston valve."

"Reverse the cable!" Misato ordered and the reel began to revolve, pulling the Eva towards the rapidly sinking battleships.

"Eva has started towards the surface, t-minus seventy to contact."

The crew of the flagship waited anxiously as the sonar operator counted down the time until the angel met the sinking ships, I found myself twirling my ID card between my fingers

"Status of its mouth?" Misato asked, the sonar operator shook his head,

"Still closed ma'am. But the battleships are on target."

"Eva two is fifty seconds from the surface."

A few more tense seconds past, everyone's eyes on the water ahead of us, before the radio speakers broke the silence

"This is the _Tempest_, the target just passed underneath us. Its speed is increasing"

Misato shot a worried look towards the distant heavy cruiser at the head of the fleet, "There's no time left Asuka!" she yelled, "Do it!"

"Open, god dammit!" Shinji snarled

"Contact! Contact! The battleships are inside!"

"Fire now!"

There was a sound like distant thunder, and then a massive explosion blossomed just in front of the flagship's bow, causing the helmsman to turn the wheel sharply to avoid it as water rained down on us.

Something huge and red leapt out of the fountain, landing gracefully on the rapidly turning vessel and the power connecter collided with the reel as it pulled in the last of the cable,

"Target destroyed." Asuka informed us proudly, her Eva plucking the fallen progressive knife from the flight deck and returning it to its place before she powered down.

"Confirmed, sonar is clear sir."

A small crowd gathered around the Eva, and they cheered when the entry plug extruded and a small, red suited figure emerged, climbed to stand atop of the Eva's head, and posed like a conquering hero.

"She's sure full of herself." Kensuke muttered, as the pilot bowed to the cheering crew, then turned to a passing frigate and bowed to it as well,

"Its probably just high sprits," I said, watching the surviving ships rearrange themselves into a coherent formation, "no-one's _that_ arrogant."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Ha! That was easy!" Asuka said over her shoulder at me as the escalator to the New Yokosuka dock descended, "Even with the oh-so-famous third child cluttering up my entry plug, I still managed to kick that angel's ass!"

"Yes," I replied wearily, focusing my eyes on the nearby NERV vehicles as they unloaded the damaged Unit two, and deeply regretting my earlier judgement as she explained the details of the battle to me, "it was very impressive."

The German woman gave me a glare before stepping off onto the pavement and headed towards a nearby jeep were Misato was relating the trip to Ritsuko, probably to amend the details she didn't like.

I ignored the woman, her attitude adjustment could wait, and I scanned the crowds of people that filled the dockside, searching for someone in particular.

"Hey, have you guys seen Shinji?" I yelled towards where Kensuke and Toji were stood, watching the huge cranes lift the Eva from the deck, they shook their heads,

"Haven't seen him in a while." Toji replied, "Though after being in a small space with that bitch I'm not surprised if he needed time for himself."

"Erm." Came a voice on the escalator behind me, I turned and nearly exploded with laughter, several people on the shore turned at the noise and they too started to laugh as they laid eyes on the figure behind me.

Shinji cringed under the scrutiny, his face as red as the plugsuit he wore, and I clutched at a nearby bollard for support,

"Looking sharp!" Toji called and several NERV techs roared with laughter,

"Nice figure!" Kensuke added, camera lens glinting in the afternoon light, "This is going on the school server."

Shinji visibly wilted and I stopped laughing guiltily at the look on his face, then I turned to the crowd,

"Okay, that's enough," I yelled over the rumble of the crane, "get back to work."

As the group dispersed I walked towards a pile of storage crates where Shinji had taken refuge and removed my coveralls, stripping to my shirt and lightweight trousers.

"Change into this." I told him, passing my old uniform around the corner, "And don't worry about Kensuke, I'll take care of it."

"Thank you," Shinji whispered, taking the orange clothing,

"No problem, I'm sure you've had enough stress for a while." I lent against the crates, "I'm tired after just watching it."

Shinji emerged from his cover then, the coveralls were several sizes too big but it was better than nothing, I placed my cap on his head,

"There," I said, "We'll make a tech of you yet, my friend."

We watched the loading of unit two onto the back of a huge truck in silence, and I took the time to enjoy the sea breeze, and listen to the sound of the waves

_The waves crashed into the soft sands, pushing the driftwood even further up the beach; towards where I was sat. I picked up a piece and examined it,_

_"Tanus put that down, you don't know where it's been."_

_I turned my head towards a figure at on the promenade behind me, her legs hanging over the two-meter drop to the sand below. The woman smiled as I obediently replaced the wood and ran to stand beneath her,_

_"What are you doing mother?" I asked the figure perched above me and she turned the sketchpad she was working on so I could see her work,_

_It was an almost photographic image of the empty beach before us, complete with seagulls, a distant ship and a child examining driftwood,_

_"Just doodling, Treasure, something to pass the time while you play." _

_"You're really good!" I insisted and she reached down to ruffle my hair,_

_"You're just saying that so I'll buy you an ice cream." She protested, "My hard work reduced to an accessory for a con."_

_"I thought you said it was a doodle?"_

_"Ha!" my Mother ruffled my hair again, "Turning my own words against me, very clever for a six year old, and very much like your father would have done."_

_I grinned, accepting the praise, and tore back down towards the sea again, causing a flock of seagulls to take flight. I turned and glanced at my mother and caught a look on her delicate features before it transformed into a sunny smile,_

_Guilt. _

"Hey, Tanus?"

I shook my head, banishing the memories back into the depths of my mind, and returned to the present.

Misato and her jeep was parked directly in front of me, with Ritsuko in the passenger seat and the other children crammed into the back,

"Time to go," Misato said kindly, "There's room for one more."

"Sorry, ma'am. I was miles away." I climbed into the back and tried to make myself comfortable as the overloaded vehicle joined the flow of NERV trucks headed inland.

_"And a long time ago." _

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The next day,

"And then she went nuts and blamed us for distracting her," Shinji finished with a shrug, he was sat on Kensuke's desk and was telling his friends about the tests we had undergone once we had got back to headquarters the previous day,

"She may have been cute, but that attitude places her firmly in "Daemon bitch" territory." Toji replied, "I feel sorry for you. You guys have to work with her every day."

"I'm glad _we_ won't see her again," Kensuke added, searching through his bag, "Where is that disc? Aw man, I knew I should have made a back up!"

Shinji looked towards the back of the class where I had my feet on the vanished wood of my desk and I winked, tossed a small black object from hand to hand, and mouthed the word "wiped".

He gave me a relieved grin and returned to his desk, and I threw the worthless disc out of the window as more of our classmates entered the room, ready to start a new day of boring lectures.

There was a glimpse of red in the mass of children and Toji froze, pointing a trembling finger at the new arrival,

"Kensuke, It's the devil!"

The four of us groaned as Asuka Langley Soryu stepped to the front of the class and wrote her name on the black board, turned on her heel and gave us a friendly wave,

"I'm Asuka, Asuka Langley Soryu." She said cheerfully, "Nice to meet you all!"

I lent towards Shinji and whispered into his ear as Asuka began to walk towards an empty desk next to mine, "Now she's nice and polite? Is it some kind of split personality thing?"

The Japanese boy shrugged and I let back on my chair, twirling a pen between my fingers thoughtfully, at least we now had four Evas; Unit Zero's repairs were almost finished, I guess we would have to put up with the daemon for now.

Asuka smiled, than kicked out at my chair leg, causing me to overbalance and fall to the floor in a heap, the German woman sniggered.

"I hope that teaches you to keep all four of your chairs legs on the floor, Mr Harrab." The teacher called as I righted myself,

"Yes sir," I replied and shot an angry glare at Asuka, she returned it with a look of angelic innocence, "I'll remember that."

Asuka grinned evilly and returned her attention to the front of the room,

_"The first shots have been fired,"_ I thought with a smile, _"the war has begun."_

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	9. DanceDance Evalution

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Chapter 9: Dance-Dance Evalution

The constant summer sun beat down on the sweltering city of Tokyo 3 like a hammer, forcing most of the populace either inside air-conditioned buildings, or to the shores of lake Ashino. The occupants of Class 2-A had to endure the heat best we could, while we waited for the air-conditioning repairman to show up, so we had swarmed outside as soon as the bell at the end of the first lesson had rung. Fights where breaking out near the water fountains and any large patches of shade.

I was stood in the shadow of the gymnasium, my status as an Eva pilot and my physical size had discouraged anyone from trying to dislodge me, watching the group clustered around Toji and Kensuke 's makeshift stall with interest.

Kensuke had taken advantage of the fact that most of the boys in school thought that Asuka was the most attractive girl at the moment and that they were too nervous to approach her directly, to sell pictures of her to anyone who could pay. It looked like he was making quite a profit.

I let the crowd draw away, clutching their precious photos, before approaching the pair myself,

"Hey Tanus!" Toji greeted me cheerfully, "What can I interest you in?" he gestured to the sample pictures,

I shook my head, "Nothing, thanks. I just wanted to warn you."

"Warn us about what?" Kensuke asked, counting a sheaf of banknotes, "Nothing wrong with making a little money is there?"

"Not if you live to spend it." I said, kneeling down to examine one of the pictures, it was a good profile shot of Asuka in her school swimsuit, Kensuke must have been very lucky to escape without being spotted, "When Asuka finds out that you've been doing this, she'll remove certain parts of your body."

The two boys exchanged worried glances,

"You make a good case," said Kensuke after a few seconds, "I think we have enough for today, right Toji?"

"Yeah, we can always sell some more later."

I shrugged as they began to gather up their things and tossed the picture back onto the pile, "Its your funereal. Don't say I didn't warn you."

I left them shoving pictures into their schoolbags and went to lean on the wall that overlooked the basketball court, another crowd had gathered at the base of the stairs, and my eyes made out the shape of Asuka standing on the nearby flowerbed and Rei sat on a bench just beside it.

I had just made myself comfortable on the wall, ready to watch the fight of the decade, when the redhead turned on her heel and stormed off, the crowd dispersed, and Rei returned to the book on her lap.

I watched Rei turn a few pages while I drank another mouthful of warm water, before I slid down the railing to the bottom, and sat down next to her.

"Good morning, Rei."

"And to you, Pilot Harrab." She replied with her signature nod, closing the book and placing her hands on top of it, and I noticed that her brow was dry; the heat wasn't affecting her at all.

"Everything alright?" I asked her as I drained my water bottle and threw it over arm into a distant rubbish bin, "No one bothering you?"

"Few decide to talk to me, Pilot Harrab."

At that moment, two cell phones began shrieking in unison, and it was with a sense of foreboding that I pulled mine from my pocket and answered it,

"Hello?"

"The government has issued a special state of emergency for the Kanto and Chubu regions, surrounding the Tokai district," the recoded voice told me in her falsely confident voice, "All pilots are to return to headquarters and prepare to sortie." The line clicked closed,

I stood up and began to sprit towards the school entrance, Rei a few paces behind, as the sirens began to wail mournfully across the city. Along the way Shinji fell in behind me, accompanied by Asuka.

"Come on!" I yelled over my shoulder, "Last one there is Angel Bait!"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Ten minutes later,

"Tokyo 3's intercept system is still under repair from the last Angel attack," Misato informed the three active Eva pilots as our respective machines backed towards the catapults, "Its only at twenty six percent effectiveness, for practical purposes, that's zero."

There was a thud and we crept slowly up the launch tubes, pausing about halfway, then the section of railing we where on tilted so we were lying flat on our backs, then it spun ninety degrees and connected to another line of rails, after a two second pause we shot off at full speed, this time heading parallel to the ground.

"We'll use Liner route 26 to get you to the coast," Misato explained from her mobile command car, "you must intercept the target before it makes landfall, understood?"

"Yes, ma'am" we chorused,

"Good, Units one and two will attack in turns, close combat load out, Unit five will act as support and a final blocker. Don't let it get past."

"Understood," I said with a grin, "We'll hold the line."

Misato nodded and the link snapped closed,

"This sucks," came Asuka's voice over the squad net, "My first fight in Japan and she wont let me handle it solo. Why do I have to bring you losers?"

"Don't worry," Shinji assured her, "its just SOP, you see?"

"Besides," I interrupted, "someone needs to look after the Rookie."

"I'll show you who is the real rookie!" she spat back, "Both of you stay out of my way or I'll make you regret it!"

The link closed, Shinji gave me a shrug, then his closed as well.

We emerged into open sunlight, and came to a halt with a thud, the restraints snapping open with an audible click,

"Well that was fun." I said sarcastically as I made Unit five stand up, "remind me to thank the captain."

I was stood on the edge of a sunken city, the buildings poking out at odd angles through the surf, and a long, wide beach connecting the ruins to the new shoreline.

Shinji and Asuka had already dropped into the water and strode through the ruined buildings towards where the mobile generators and weapon carriers sat on the sand, behind them a UN armoured company rumbled into positions behind the NERV deployment, the tanks turning their cannons towards the sea. As if their artillery could make a dent in the target.

We connected the cables then selected weapons. Unit one taking the reliable Pallet rifle, while Asuka took a sonic halberd, extending it to its full length with a satisfied huff. I shouldered a missile launcher, hesitated for a moment, and then picked up a second.

"Oh yeah." I said confidently, spinning the weapons in my hands, like a cowboy with his pistols, "Bring it on!"

Unit two led the way into the knee-deep water as my targeting computer registered a large energy reading approaching rapidly from the bay, Shinji followed close behind her while I remained where I was, bracing myself for massive recoil my two weapons would produce and linking my targeting computer to the other Evas.

Suddenly the Angel surfaced, a biped with its arms and legs extruding from a narrow torso, it reminded me of a streamlined version of the first one Shinji had faced but with a broader pelvis and bow shaped lags. Its tiny eyes regarded us expressionlessly.

"All Evangelions are cleared to engage." Misato informed us, "Begin the attack!"

"Music to my ears," Asuka spun the halberd above her head, its blade leaving a bright trial in the air, "you two better watch my back."

"You want _us_ to cover _you_?" Shinji asked, confused,

"Yeah, ladies first!"

Unit two moved forwards as we opened fire, missiles and shells slamming into the Angel's flickering AT field and obscuring it behind a chain of explosions.

"This one's mine!" Asuka yelled, leaping from building to building as she closed with the target, the Angel watched her approach with an almost curious expression, blinking quickly as if unused to the bright sunlight.

Two of my rockets smashed through the orange wall, causing the Angel to stagger backwards as they hit home, just as Asuka launched her assault, weapon held two handed above her head as she used the force of her leap to add power to the cut, and she sliced the Angel right down the middle, her blade dissecting its round face. The two pieces sagged pathetically.

"That was fast," I said in surprise, Shinji nodded,

"Beautiful!" Misato cheered, "Excellent work Asuka!"

"It was nothing," the German replied with false modesty, "I can do way better."

The red Eva pulled its weapon free and started to walk back towards the shore, its pilot giving me an arrogant sneer. I ignored her, all I cared about was killing the Angels, and instead linked my mind with the presence, hoping to feel its pride in a job well done, but it was focused on the twitching corpse, and it was filled with suspicion.

_"What's wrong?"_ I thought at it and it gave me its attention briefly before returning it back to the Angel, mistrust and wariness crossed the divide.

_Falsehood. Trick._

I stared at the corpse again, increasing my magnification to examine the cut, its twitching was too rhythmic for my liking.

"Asuka, it's still moving!"

She spun around in time to see the two halves leap apart, and then they shed their outer skin, revealing two angels, both identical to the original.

"What?" Asuka spluttered, "That's cheating!"

The two clones stood, water and the blood from their birth poured down their flanks, then they charged forwards.

"They are attacking again!" Misato warned, "Take them out!"

Two more missiles were already airborne, and they blew off one of the Angels' arms, the AT field providing no protection from the barrage Shinji and I unleashed at it, my targeting computers ensuring that all our shots hit the target.

"Oh come on!" I protested, as the limb regenerated, "Nothing re-grows that fast!"

The other angel leapt at Asuka, and she hacked at its flailing claws with her blade, sending it into the water, again it was replaced.

"What the hell?"

The first twin ducked past her and lunged at Unit One, ignoring the dozens of rounds he pumped into it as it drew close, and smashed him to the ground with a swipe of its claws.

"Unit One has stopped transmitting." I heard Maya report, "He's in no shape to fight,"

I was moving before I had realised it, missile launcher held like a club and I crossed the open space swiftly and hammered my makeshift mêlée weapon into the Angel's face, sending bits of metal flying as the strength of the blow crushed the barrel and forced the target to lose its footing but the angel recovered its balance like an acrobat and circled around me wearily as I dropped the useless missile launcher, pulled my progressive knife from my pylon and held it before me, shimmering blade parallel to the water, standing over my fallen friend protectively.

To my left, Asuka was raining blows on the other clone, scoring deep cuts into its flesh although they healed almost immediately,

"Why. Won't. You. Die!" she shrieked,

"Asuka, aim for the core!" Misato advised, and sparks flew as the German girl thrust her blade into the red sphere.

My opponent continued to circle, making feints towards me, trying to lure me out into deeper water, away from my fallen comrade, and seemingly unaware of its twin's imminent death. I stayed were I was, waiting patiently for Asuka before trying to tackle this one by myself.

Unit five was designed for mid- to long-range fire support, not hand-to-hand combat, and no amount of training or tests could remove the hindrance of the F-type Armour. Its targeting computer and other advanced systems would be horribly exposed with any lighter, giving an opponent handholds and weak spots to exploit. Ritsuko had said something about final parts to complete my Eva's frame that would make it more agile would be arrive soon, but that information was useless at present. Now that I had closed with the foe I couldn't disengage without being cut down as I tried to run. And I would not abandon my friend.

"Its no good!" Asuka yelled, pulling her blade free, "It just keeps regenerating any damage I do!"

. The Angel twin leapt towards me and I knew this was no feint as I raised my knife to parry. Its assault altered direction faster than my eyes could follow, changing from a frontal attack to weave past my raised arm to slash at the back of my right leg, causing me to drop to my knees. I screamed as the pain cut through my metal shield.

"Tanus!" Asuka yelled, the sound of my pain diverting her attention for a second, the Angel took full advantage. Grabbing tight hold of her leg and shoulder, it lifted her above its head and threw her out into the bay. She landed heavily; armour buckling at the impact, then rolled a few hundred yards, and lay still.

I tried desperately to stand, but my strength was trickling away through the phantom wound, and I began to shake as the weight of my own Eva threatened to overwhelm me.

"Tanus!" Misato yelled through the descending darkness, "you've got to stand up! They are going to break through if you don't get up now!"

The Angels were moving away towards the shoreline with speed unusual in something that size. I felt my panic rise as they ran up the beach, the tanks' shells bouncing from them like pebbles.

I forced my Eva to stand, gritting my teeth against the pain and leaning on a ruined build to compensate for my useless leg, and reached for Shinji's pallet rifle. The Angels were nearing the edge of the ruined town, at the limit of the rifle's effective range, the rifle stock met my shoulder and I pulled the trigger, hoping that this volley would stop them or at least lure them back towards me.

The firing pin came down on an empty chamber and I swore as the targets broke through the UN tanks and headed westwards towards Tokyo 3.

"Stand down Tanus," Misato's voice echoed through my entry plug, "We are abandoning the operation. Hyuga, inform the UN that I am transferring command to them. We failed."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Today at 11:58:15 am, Eva Unit One was attacked by one of the targets, Alpha, witch had separated from the other target, and was disabled by its close range attack,"

Back at NERV HQ, in the briefing centre, Shinji shuffled in embarrassment in his seat, as the screen in front of us showed a photo of unit one lying with its back against a half-submerged skyscraper, in the corner of the photo I could see Unit Five charging forward.

" At 12:02:03 pm, Unit Five, which had advanced to cover the fallen Unit one, suffered heavy damage to its lower right leg." The voice of Maya continued from the booth at the rear of the room, the screen now showing the precise moment that angel's attack had landed, and it was my turn to be embarrassed. Unit five had its knife raised in front of it, but the angel was ducking around its right side, avoiding the hand that held the blade and its claw was tearing through the exposed flesh of Unit Five's calf.

"At 12:02:06 pm, Unit two was thrown by the second target, Bravo, a distance of approximately three hundred and twenty eight yards, suffering damage to the torso and ceasing to function at 12:02:23."

Asuka gave an angry snarl as the screen showed her Unit face down in the water and surrounded by UN rescue craft.

"This is all your fault!" she yelled, leaping to her feet and pointing a finger at Shinji and myself, "if you had given me halfway descent support, I could have defeated both of them easily!"

"Our fault?" I yelled back, also standing, "it was your reckless charge that caused it to split in the first place!"

"Me, reckless? Well, excuse me for trying to defeat the Angel!"

"If you had informed us of your plan of action, we could have provided better covering fire." Shinji pointed out angrily, "You disregarded the operating procedure in your haste to show off!"

"What was that? You couldn't fight your way out of a wet paper bag!"

"Brave words coming from the drowned rat." I spat, pointing at the screen, where the photo remained, "It took you out pretty easily."

"How dare you say that to me? You're a pathetic excuse for a combat pilot!"

"And yet I was the only Eva left standing!" I retorted, nodding to the new photo of Unit five leaning on the building, "The Advanced Combat model has proved its superiority over the Production type in this battle."

"At 12:03:00 pm," Maya continued loudly, causing the three of us to fall silent, "NERV transferred command of the operation to UN-2."

"We've been completely humiliated." Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki growled, glaring at the three of us, I avoided making eye contact.

"At 12:05:00, the UN made an attack with an N2 mine." The picture changed from B52 bombers to a massive explosion visible from orbit, "The attack succeeded at burning off twenty eight percent incineration of the target."

"Well, it looks dead." Asuka muttered, the newest photo showing the charred shapes of the two angels.

"That is only temporary." Fuyutsuki corrected her, "the second assault is only a matter of time."

"You three," Commander Ikari interrupted, his voice sounding unnaturally loud in the small room, beside me Shinji stared down at his feet, "Do you know what your jobs are?"

"Piloting Eva?" Asuka guessed and flinched when Ikari turned his gaze to her,

"No." he said coldly as he stood up, "it is to defeat the Angels."

The three of us remained silent, Shinji still staring at his feet and Asuka was chewing her tongue, holding back her anger with difficulty while fixing me with a death-glare.

"I'm sorry sir." I replied, breaking the silence. "It will not happen again."

"See that it doesn't. NERV does not need this kind of negative attention."

The room was silent as the two commanders left the room and Maya turned off the projector,

"Why does everyone get do angry here?" Asuka asked the room as she collapsed back into her chair.

"Adults have a thing about credibility," Kaji replied, he was sat right behind her, "we don't like to be humiliated."

"Where's Misato?" I asked him, "She was in charge of this operation, shouldn't she be here?"

"She's clearing things up," Kaji said, "One of the duties of the director of operations is to take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

I nodded and scratched the back of my leg; Ritsuko had forced some of that damn ointment onto the irritated skin, so now the bandages itched like crazy.

"What'll we do now?" Shinji asked, ignoring my furious scratching, "Doctor Akagi said that the Eva's need days to be repaired."

"Don't worry," Kaji reassured him, "The MAGI have predicted that it'll take the same amount of time for the angels to regenerate the damage they suffered. I'm sure that Captain Katsuragi will have a plan before then."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The walk home later that afternoon was longer then usual, Shinji having to adjust his pace to mine, due to my bandages I could only limp, and occasionally one of us would look nervously towards the east as if expecting the angels to burst over the ridge and attack.

We made most of the trip in silence, until Shinji broke the silence,

"I never got the chance to thank you," he said as we waited at a crossing, "for earlier."

"Hmm?" I said distantly, "Oh, right. Don't worry about it. Like I've said before: we're all in this together. I'd do the same for Rei and even the Baroness if necessary."

"But," he protested, "You could have been killed."

"So could have you if I hadn't. Therefore it's worth the risk."

"You're not afraid to die?"

I punched his shoulder gently, "Of course I am. Do you think I'm made of stone? I can't just stand back and watch a friend die."

I turned away and looked towards the west, my mind travelling back through the years towards the day my life changed forever,

"Not again."

I shook away the dark thought as a delivery truck rumbled past and I crossed the road quickly, eager to get back to the apartment where my only worry was Misato's cooking and the only annoyance was trying to find where pen-pen had hidden my socks.

Once again the lifts in the apartment building were broken, and the two of us climbed three flights of stairs without compliant, the end off an awful day was in sight.

I unlocked the door and stepped though, something slid under my foot and I fell backwards, smacking my head on the doorframe, tried to stand again and slipped on something else in the darkness of the hallway.

"Son of a bitch." I muttered in English from my prone position, having decided to accept the majority vote for the moment, before switching back to Japanese, "What the hell was that?"

"Erm, it looks like a bra," said Shinji, picking up the offending object,

"Misato had better start tidying up after herself," I growled angrily as I carefully stood, "or I start disabling certain electronic devices, like the water heater while she's having a shower."

Shinji flicked on the light switch and revealed stacks of boxes almost blocking the hallway, a half open orange suitcase lay by the door, clothes hanging out of the opening.

"What is all this crap?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head "has Misato started ordering things from the Internet?"

"Don't be so rude!" a voice yelled from behind the pile of boxes, "These are my personnel belongings."

Shinji peered over the stack and went pale, "You? What the blazes are you doing in our house?"

"Why are you two still here?" said Asuka calmly as she stepped into view, "Yeah, you guys have been ditched for the newer model, it's a natural choice considering my superior tactical abilities. I'm sure that now we are living together, Misato and I can come up with a fool-proof plan to destroy the Angel."

"You what?" I said as she drew closer, an arrogant smirk on her face,

"You need me to spell it out, Tech?" she said sweetly, her face inches from mine although she had to stand on tiptoe to do it, "Misato will be living with me, although I'd rather live with Kaji, you two will have to find new accommodation."

She smirked again and lent back against the wall, my confusion and anger making it difficult to talk,

"Hey, Third Child, why are Japanese houses so small anyway? I could only fit about half of my stuff into my new room." She jerked a thumb down the corridor and Shinji gagged at the pile of his things that occupied the rest of the entranceway, it seemed she had already staked her claim to the front bedroom.

"And how can you live in rooms without locks?" the German continued as Shinji went to rescue his belongings from the rubbish, she opened and closed the living room door for emphasis, "haven't you heard of the need for privacy? Unbelievable!"

"That's because the Japanese way is to look after the needs of others before one's own." Said Misato six inches from my spine, her officer's stealth catching me out once again, "How's the move going Asuka? You guys will be getting along real well."

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked, knelt amongst his possessions,

"This is part of your new training regime." Misato explained, stepping through into the living room carrying a radio, the three of us followed her, curiosity winning out over anger. Misato sat at the table and gestured for the three of us to sit opposite. Asuka on my right and Shinji my left, and waited while Misato set the radio down next to her and drained her first beer can of the evening.

"There is only one way to destroy this newest Angel," she said, slamming the can on the table between us, spraying beer dregs over the varnished surface. Shinji flinched, "Execute a simultaneous attack on both cores while the Angel is separated."

The other pilots and myself exchanged glances, where was she going with this?

"To that end," Misato continued, sweeping a stern gaze over the three of us, "I want the three of you to live together from now on."

It was like flicking a switch. Asuka exploded, leaping to her feet angrily, Shinji went pale and I was half stood myself, staring at my latest guardian with disbelief. Share a house with the Baroness? Might as well share it with a dragon, there would be less arguments for one thing.

"No way!" Asuka was protesting, "a boy and a girl should not share a room after the age of seven, and now you want to force two in with me?"

"Keep your shorts on," I interrupted, "I'm not exactly happy with this arrangement either. The line for the bathroom in the mornings is long enough already."

"The Angel is currently regenerating itself," Misato continued over the two of us, "it will begin its next assault in a few days, this is the only way."

"But its impossible," Asuka moaned, slumping back into her chair, "defeating the Angel can't be worth this!"

"We have a way of making it possible," Our CO assured her, "The three of you will learn the master attack pattern choreographed to this music."

She pressed play on the small radio and music drifted out, some kind of classical I guessed, Misato continued. "I have secured equipment to help with the training. We begin now, we attack in six days."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The lights of the sixth cage gave the two men on the walkways above a grand view of the techs and cranes swapping the plates and wiring that acted as Unit Five's protective skin. Several wearing diving equipment leapt into the deep pool of LCL that surrounded the machine and vanished under the dark surface

The shouted orders carried up to the two watchers, mixing with the clang of metal on metal and rumble of cranes. One of them spoke, the lights beneath them putting his old face into sharp relief.

"The plans for Unit five where finished long before the Forth Child was chosen. Yet its two-year-old upgrades change its appearance. What does the finished Model remind you of?"

The other man was silent, the light from below reflecting off his glasses as he watched the organised chaos below, after a few seconds his companion turned to him.

"You do remember his father?" the first man continued, "You were part of the Katsuragi research team as well."

"Colonel Nesfer Harrab was in charge of the security forces." The man replied. "I had few dealings with him. Although I understand he was a powerful man, very charismatic, and the men under his command spoke very highly of him. Nesfer never had to repeat an order."

Silence fell on the walkway as the men below continued their work, slipping the new green armour into place, each plate slotting together and overlapping like the scales of a serpent.

"I expect he wasn't happy with his assignment," the first man said after a while, "Babysitting scientists must have been boring for him."

" He left the administration work to his second in command, and took turns patrolling the perimeter of the facility while we worked. I believe he was on such a patrol when Second Impact occurred."

"And his nickname?" the first man pressed, turning his gaze to the Evangelion below, and a small smile crossed the other's face as he replied.

"The Cobra."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Shinji! Pay attention to the music! You're being far too self-conscious!" the yell of Misato, our self-appointed dance teacher, cut though the composition like a blade, causing the two figures on the dance mats to freeze, their limbs locked halfway through one of the movements.

"I'm sorry." The boy replied, lowering his arms and staring at the floor, Asuka smirked at his discomfort until the older woman turned her attention to her,

"Asuka, slow down! Stop leaving the others behind; you need to be in perfect harmony if we are going to be successful. How many times do I need to tell you?"

"I could do that," the girl muttered, "But you're asking me to lower my abilities to their level, shouldn't they try and match me?"

"We would," I said irritably from where I was sat against the patio windows, shifting uncomfortably in the half-leotard, half-shirt "Training Suits" Misato had forced the three of us into, "If you had any ability at all."

"Enough!" Misato cut off Asuka's furious response before it was launched, "we've been at this for three days, and not one of you has managed to pace yourself with any of the others. We haven't even figured out a mission roster."

She stood, pulling on her uniform jacket as she did so, "I need to retrieve a few things from headquarters. Tanus, you need to raise your leg higher about mid way through, its putting you off balance for the rest of the steps, work on that while I'm gone. We have only three days left to get it right."

"Yes Captain." I sighed, also standing, taking a headset from Shinji and readying myself on the mat. Misato stared at me for a few seconds longer, then left with an angry mutter.

"Start the music." I ordered, from my crouch, Asuka mimicked me on the next mat, a feral grin on her face. It was a duel then.

"Ready to see how its really done tech?" she hissed,

"Sure," I replied calmly, as Shinji rewound the tape, "Just get me a mirror."

My friend pressed play; music drifted from the speakers, and the two of us on the mats leapt forwards into the first of the dance moves, our bodies and gestures in almost perfect harmony.

I watched the girl out of the corner of my eye, she seemed to be rushing through the moves like it was a race, and so I increased my own speed to match. Finishing the spins and weaves a fraction of a second behind her.

"Keep pace, damn it," I muttered, when one of the moves brought our heads close together for a moment "Stop rushing off."

She gave me a wordless snarl as we leapt up from a crouch to deliver an uppercut to our imaginary opponents then we both spun round into a roundhouse kick, before finishing it with a solid punch to where the angels core would be.

The tape finished with a click and both of us stared at each other for a second, sweat glistening on our exposed skin and our chests heaving as we fought for breath.

"Thought," I gasped, "Thought you could leave me behind huh? I'm not as slow as you think."

"I'll believe," she replied, also as breathlessly, "I'll believe that when I see it."

I collapsed back at my spot near the patio, my respect for the Second Child raising a fraction, she had just practiced the same moves with Shinji moments before and she still had energy to try and compete with me.

I saluted her with my water bottle before pressing the ice-cold plastic to my forehead. Shinji threw me another one from the cooler by the table. It slapped into my waiting hand and I took a swig.

"That was pretty good." He said, sitting beside me, "I think that you did better than I did."

I shook my head, "I'm not built for this kind of thing, I'll bet it was just luck that I didn't end up flat on my back."

To our surprise, Asuka sat down to my right and took the water from my hand, "You elephants have drank all the others," she explained as she drained the bottle, "Misato needs to buy more if we're going to keep this up for the rest of the week."

"No arguments here." I replied, "Could we also move the training to somewhere with a decent air conditioner? This place is a oven."

"What are you? Stupid?" the red-haired girl shot back, "I'm not appearing in public wearing this stupid thing!"

"We could ask Misato if we could move it to NERV headquarters." Shinji suggested, "It must have tons of rooms we could use."

"What was that? An original idea from you?" Asuka looked amused, "I'm surprised at the sudden display of initiative."

"This was not what I had in mind when I signed up to be an Eva Pilot." I said to the room, ignoring Asuka and pulling at the suit I was wearing, "I mean look at this! How the hell is this supposed to help?"

"It creates "Atmosphere", remember?" Asuka explained, she changed her voice to a passable imitation of Misato, " "Appearance is vital to create mood, and you need to be in the right mindset for this." "

The three of us laughed,

"That was a good impression," I said, "Who's this?" I altered my voice to Commander Fuyutsuki, " "We've been completely humiliated!""

The other's laughed harder and Asuka tried one of Ritsuko, " "This is pathetic!""

"Come on Shinji!" I said to my friend between the laughter, giving him a nudge with my elbow, "you try one."

"I don't think I can-" he began, but Asuka cut him off,

"C'mon! Don't be such a worrywart!"

"Yeah," I agreed with a nod of my head, "Lighten up a little."

"Well, okay." Shinji pushed his back against the glass door, locked is hands together in front of him and adopted a stern expression while staring at us over the top of his fingers, "Do you know what your jobs are?"

Asuka and I froze, just for a moment it had been the older Ikari sat next to us, before we had hysterics again, doubling over on the floor as Shinji dropped his unsympathetic expression.

"Its Commander Sourpuss himself!" Asuka sniggered.

We ran though all the base staff we could remember, a task that took several minutes, each of us trying a different person and arguing over some of the stranger ones while the music played in the background in its continuous loop until the doorbell rang.

"Fun's over." I said with a sigh, "Misato's probably forgotten her card again."

"We'd better get back to work." Shinji agreed, "I'll get the door."

I faced Asuka across the mat and gave her a polite bow, "Shall we dance?"

The German girl rolled her eyes and adopted the starting pose on the mat while pulling on one of the wireless headphones; I imitated her on the other. The radio clicked and started the minute long track again; we tensed, awaiting the assigned point where we would begin.

This time the movements flowed together, the two of us acting in perfect sync with the music, the dance steps, and the other pilot. We grinned at each other as we began the complicated mid-section and I focused my mind, this was the part I always messed up.

Shinji slid open the living room door then, and was followed in by Kensuke, Toji, Misato, Rei and Hikari. I felt Asuka freeze next to me as her friend entered, and the scoreboard blared the ERROR message that was so infuriating.

"_Scheisse_!" she spat, throwing the headset to the floor, "there is no way I can lower myself to the level this animated turnip lives at!" she pointed a finger at me and I fell over with a curse of my own, I really hate that mid-point.

"We were doing alright before." I muttered from the floor,

"So this is what you where doing the past few days." Said Kensuke with a chuckle, "Playing dress up with Asuka and Tanus."

My water bottle was already airborne and it hit him in the face, closely followed by Asuka's, knocking his glasses to the floor.

"I've had enough of this," the girl muttered, "It's not possible."

"So you're giving up?" Said Misato calmly, while Kensuke fished through the mess of empty bottles and cans by the table for his glasses.

"Well, you don't have anyone else who can pilot Unit two!" Asuka replied smugly, "I'll have to do."

"Rei," Misato said, her eyes still on Asuka, "Why don't you and Shinji try?"

"Yes ma'am."

The blue haired girl nodded to me as she picked up the fallen headset and took Asuka's place, Shinji took mine nervously and I passed him my headphones,

"Go for it," I said encouragingly and moved to sit by Hikari,

The First and Third children, knelt on the white plastic as they waited for the music to restart, Asuka watched them critically with her arms folded.

"This ought to be good." She muttered in German as the pair began to dance.

It was better than good, the two children moving together without pause, following the moves exactly as Misato's briefing video had shown us three days ago and passing though the difficult mid-point without a hitch.

"Well, it looks like we have a final mission line up." Said Misato triumphantly, "I'll have Ritsuko ready Unit Zero on D-day, Shinji and Rei will handle the operation."

"What?! NO!" Asuka yelled, "That's not fair!"

"They've proven that they have the skill to do this." Said Misato, still using that annoying calmness, "Survivability takes priority over being fair."

Asuka slammed her foot into the carpet, "Fine! You won't need me anymore! I'm out of here!" and with that she turned on her heel and stormed off.

"So even the devil can cry." Toji muttered, pulling a drink from the fridge,

"Hey lay off her," I retorted, "Why don't you try if you're so smart?"

"Oh, the big scary Englishman is standing up for the she-daemon." Kensuke teased, "When are you getting married Tanus?"

"Oh, shut up," I said with a sigh, standing up, "I'll go get her back Misato. These guys are driving me nuts. I could use some fresh air anyway."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Hunting Asuka down took several hours, it seemed she had gained a good knowledge of Tokyo three's back streets and alleyways in the short time she had been in the city and I only found her by luck when I stopped off in a small convenience store on the opposite side of the city to the apartment.

She was knelt in the snack foods aisle, a half-full shopping basket beside her, pretending to read the rear of a packet of instant noodles while I walked up beside her.

"Don't say anything." She growled as I drew close, "I know that I have to pilot my Eva and learn that stupid dance."

I took a knee beside her and waited quietly while she made her selections, and walked alongside her once she had paid for them.

The sun was sinking into the western mountains when she finally spoke, climbing atop of a statue of some solider from the wars after Second Impact overlooking the city centre, sitting on the smooth plinth and let the setting sun shine in her face.

"I'll show them!" she swore, her voice echoing over the railing and across the city, her feet swung alongside my head. I pushed them away, "No matter the cost, I'll put Shinji and the First Child to shame!"

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" I suggested from where I was sat beside her, "you don't need to squash them-" her furious response cut me off,

"You're over simplifying things, even more than a normal male." She drained a can of juice and threw it off the edge of the railing to fall towards the street below, "I must avenge my wounded pride. It's a matter of honour now, even you should be able to understand that, Tech."

I nodded, Honour wasn't something to be taken lightly, and Asuka gave a satisfied grunt.

"We need somewhere to practise." She mused, cupping her head in her hands and staring at the sunset, "If they are going to pair Shinji with, with Wonder girl, we should team up as well."

"Wait, team up?" I asked, "Haven't they already chosen the pilots?"

"_Verdammnt_, do I have to explain everything? We still have three days left for training, Misato hasn't called me to say otherwise." Asuka held up her mobile phone as proof, "she must have been trying to guilt me into practising with Shinji."

"Right,"

"So, the final line up must still be undecided, if we show her that we can perform even better than Shinji and the First, we'll snatch the places from under their noses."

I stood, matching the German's grin; " "Survivability takes priority over being fair". "

"Now you understand, we destroy the angel and avenge our pride in one stroke."

Asuka stepped off her perch, grabbed her shopping bag and beckoned to me, "C'mon. We need to get back to the apartment; we can get at least another hour's training done before dark."

She started to run down the empty street, red hair streaming out behind her, and I found myself following, something about her drive to succeed was infectious and I was somehow going along with her crazy plan.

_"The Angel is living on borrowed time."_ I thought confidently, glancing at Asuka out of the corner of my eye, _"We will not lose to it again."_

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The journey back to the apartment we both called home somehow turned into a race, with the two of us jumping over rubbish bins as we competed to find the fastest route.

We tore down alleyways, across parks and finally staggered our way up the flights of stairs to the fourth floor, our pride refusing to allow either of us to use the lifts, and where met by a seething Misato at the doorway that stopped us in our tracks.

"Where have you been?" she hissed, pulling us though the opening by the ears, "In between tantrums and childish antics, the Angel has gained another day on us, a day we can ill-afford. We need the two of you to get in perfect sympathy, remember that mankind depends you children to protect it."

"Yeah, yeah," said Asuka casually, "We _were_ present at the briefing, Misato. You worry too much."

"Wait a second," I said after a few seconds, "Why did you say "The two of you," I thought Shinji and Rei where the selected pilots?"

Misato sighed and ushered us through to the dining room where our dinner was waiting, Shinji was sat at the table and I noticed he was wearing his old white shirt and black trousers combo, "I got a call from NERV a few minutes ago, and apparently the Magi have predicted that you and Asuka stand the best chance of succeeding. Something about cultural background similarities, I forget the details, so Shinji and Rei have been placed on standby. Units Five and Two will handle the op."

Asuka gave a triumphant arm pump behind our guardians back while she was pulling a beer from the fridge, and somehow managed to squeeze in an evil grin for Shinji before Misato had turned back around.

I however concentrated on my plate, some kind of seafood I guessed, and gave it a prod with my fork. It had the air of Misato's cooking about it and I had the right to be cautious.

I took a careful bite, prepared to spit it back out at the first hint of chilli powder and was surprised when none appeared. With my worries silenced, I began to shovel the rest into my mouth, while watching my new partner push the food around her plate, she hadn't gotten used to Misato's cooking style yet.

Shinji seemed more relaxed than normal, with his homework papers littering the table beside his plate he cold have passed as any normal fourteen year-old boy. He gave me a friendly nod when he noticed I was watching him.

"Happy to be out of the line of fire for the time being?" I asked him,

My friend gave me a nervous grin, "It seems that I'm always the one chosen to fight. I welcome the break. Anyway, you guys seem at lot braver then me when you're fighting."

"There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity." I replied. Leaning back in my chair, "as my conduct with the Forth Angel showed. Your method seems to have worked for you so far."

"You all have the potential to be top-notch Eva pilots." Misato encouraged us, "You wouldn't have been chosen otherwise. The process is quite thorough when analysing potential candidates, few people make it past Marduk's second phase."

"Makes me wonder how the these guys got through," Asuka said, seizing the chance to abandon her food, "I've been training for ages!"

"My father was a Colonel with the UN, and my mother was a member of Geherin since it's founding," I mused, staring at the ceiling, "Perhaps my skills were inherited from them. I know my Mother taught me to paint."

"You paint pictures?" Shinji asked, looking up from his work, "like portraits?"

"No, garden fences and sheds. Of course portraits."

"Oh, you're so macho." Asuka said with a mock swoon, but still managed to dodge my thrown spoon with ease, Pen-Pen stole her plate.

"Just because I'm a big guy doesn't mean that I have to be a sports fanatic. I have enough trouble with the Englishman stereotype, thank you very much."

"Asuka, what do you do with your spare time?" Misato asked, swirling the dregs of her beer around the bottom of the can, "You can't be training twenty-four seven."

"Oh I play the violin," she said quietly, "And I liked to go scuba diving on holidays."

"I understand that the coral reefs around Okinawa are quite spectacular." I said thoughtfully, watching the penguin retreat into his fridge with his spoils held proudly overhead, "I would like to see them."

"Isn't that where we are going for this years school trip?" Shinji asked, resuming his work, "The class representative was putting up notices last week."

"Oh yeah, that's probably where I got the thought from. Here was me thinking I was being original."

"All this talk about school trips is a little premature, don't you think?" Asuka interrupted, standing up, "We still have an Angel to defeat."

She marched towards the living room, grabbing my collar as she passed, and dragged me through the door, "C'mon Tech, we need to make up for lost time."

"Like it wasn't your fault we lost it in the first place."

"What was that?" her hand connected with my face with a resounding crack, "Stop complaining! You're wasting even more time!"

"God dammit woman! That hurt!"

"Just try not to fall over before the music starts Tech."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The next two days passed in a blur of music, arguments, endless repetition of the same moves until I almost went insane. But, something happened that made Asuka and myself suddenly flow together in perfect sync.

It was unusual, and not just because the two of us had stopped quarrelling. If one of us shifted in our seats at the dinner table, the other would mimic it at exactly the same moment. Sneezes now came in stereo, and unfortunately I would find the bathroom occupied at the very second I needed to use it. Asuka was still faster than me in some areas.

I had spent most of the evening before the Angel's attack playing chess with Shinji while I waited for Asuka to finish with the shower. I had long gotten used to her excessive use of the hot water, as disagreeing with her achieved nothing.

"Is it just me, or does Asuka shower every two hours." I asked Shinji over the board, he merely grunted, and removed one of my bishops from the black and white tiles with a rook I hadn't noticed,

"Check." He said, and returned his headphones to his ears. Someday I would find out what he actually listened to.

The sound of running water suddenly cut off and I heard the curtained divide into the kitchen slide open accompanied by approaching footsteps on the kitchen's tiled floor.

"Where's Misato?" Asuka asked, stepping into the living room-turned-barracks where the four of us slept each night, wearing one of our guardian's dressing gowns. Shinji and I quickly returned our eyes to the game; Misato didn't choose gowns with large amounts of fabric.

"She's at headquarters." I replied, Shinji looked incapable of coherent speech, "She called while you where in the shower, she's pulling an all-nighter. It's D-day tomorrow."

"So," she said softly, running her finger along the back of the sofa as she walked past, "just the three of us here tonight."

She picked up her bedroll and blanket, carried them into the dining room then slid the door closed with her foot.

"Odd girl." I muttered, and counter-attacked Shinji's rook with a knight, Suddenly the dining room door burst open revealing Asuka knelt amongst her bedding and leaning out the opening towards us.

"This door is now the impenetrable wall of Jericho." She said, and I fought to keep my eyes locked with hers, a drop to the exposed skin below would equal death, "Any man who takes even a single step over this wall is dead meat, understand?"

Shinji and I nodded, and Asuka gave a huff of satisfaction and slammed the door closed again,

"Time for bed children!" she called through the divide, "Lights out!"

The room was plunged into darkness and I gave a sigh and pushed the board away in the dim light of Tokyo three's distant skyscrapers.

"Guess I should get some sleep," I whispered, as I crawled towards my own bed, "Before my "Partner" storms over the wall and kills us both. See you tomorrow Shinji."

The dark shape that was my friend nodded, "Good luck."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Control to Units Five and Two, Targets are approaching from the east. Spread your AT fields as soon as the music starts, then follow the operation choreography. Are you ready?"

"Yes, Captain." The two of us coursed, and I felt the adrenaline coursing through my veins, this was it.

"Remember the moves, Tech. Lets blow them away!" Asuka said to me, her Eva running a thumb along her spears head, we had the bare minimum of restraints enabled, just enough to stabilise us as we rocketed up the launch tube. The changes left our arms free to move.

"Full power and maximum speed." I responded, "We'll be done in sixty-two seconds."

"Targets have just breached our defensive line and are entering ground zero." Aoba reported, a note of fear in his voice,

"We won't fail this time," Misato assured him, "detach external power."

I felt the power cable leap clear of my Eva's back and the one minute timer appeared on my HUD,

"Eva launch!" Misato bellowed, and the catapult activated, the first notes of the music drifting through my radio link to the control room as I rocked upwards, my mind found the presence, and strength and trust flowed through the link.

Far above I could see a small square of blue sky, rapidly growing larger as I drew closer and the final safety locks disengaged just as I cleared the surface, Sonic Spear clutched to my side.

I caught sight of our targets as I rose above them, bending their backs to follow our ascent until they and the buildings they strode through were laid out below us like children's toys,

I brought my arm back, and threw the weapon, Asuka releasing hers at the same moment to send two steel-tipped lances tearing downwards as we reached the top of our arc and leant forwards into the first flip.

The two Angels deflected our weapons before they found their cores, and the two of us landed behind them just as the armoury buildings on either side of the board high street opened, revealing a pallet rifle each.

The rifles snapped up with trained precision and a short controlled burst of gunfire was already streaking though the gap between us as the Angel's turned, impacting as the tiny faces turned towards us, their eyes ablaze.

The ground in front of us exploded and we flipped backwards, avoiding the attack.

"This wasn't in the script," I said as I back flipped though another explosion,

"Just wing it," Asuka replied, her Eva moving like a shadow cast by my own, "We can still beat these guys."

Our feet slammed down onto an armour deployment plate, and the five metre thick sheet of metal rose between the Evas and Angels, screening us from view. The plate buckled as the Angel's ranged attack hit it.

We paused for a second than blind fired our weapons around the sheild, temporarily confused by this deviation from the plan.

My targeting computer shrieked a warning as the two Angels rapidly closed with us,

"Incoming!" Asuka yelled, "Evade!"

I dived to the left as the Angels' claws dissected the armour plate, Asuka dived right and we rolled to our feet, weapons raised, and we ran towards each other, meeting up again before emptying the weapons into the rear of the targets.

"Covering fire!" Misato yelled, "All interception buildings, full barrage!"

Missiles and shells burst from several nearby buildings as well as some from a nearby UN artillery company; the Angel's were shrouded with smoke, they slowed under the weight of the bombardment that rained down on them.

"Lets finish this!" I yelled, hearing my cry emerge from Asuka's mouth as well and we discarded the empty weapons, charged forwards and somersaulted into the attack.

My foot hit something brittle under the smoke and I felt it shift under my weight and a bright light cut through the smoke, one underfoot and one slightly to my right.

I realised I was still yelling in fury as the force of our charge pushed the dying Angels down the street, the two Evas riding them like novelty surfboards before they exploded, demolishing several of the outer city buildings and sending us sprawling.

I managed to push myself of the ground before something heavy hit me in the back and my internal batteries drained, the walls of the plug returned to their pale green.

I reached down and pulled the Entry plug eject handle, and breathed a small sigh of relief as the plug slid back, a quick pull of the hatch release handle allowed the morning sun into the small space.

A red hand reached through the opening and gripped my wrist and I gave Asuka a thankful smile as she pulled me through, she returned it with one of her own than brought her hand round to leave a red mark on my face,

"You jerk!" she yelled, pointing her other hand at the tangle of limbs beneath us, "What are you doing on my Unit two?"

"What?" I replied, trying to focus after the sudden assault, "You're the one who fell on me."

"Maybe if you kept time with me, we could have landed properly!"

"You said we had to wing it!"

"I didn't mean go crazy! Your brain must still be tired, you were making a lot of noise last night."

"I couldn't sleep! I was worried about today's battle!"

"Yeah, I'll bet!" suddenly her face took on a look of horror and she pointed a finger at me assumingly, " You were "Choking the Gopher" weren't you?!"

"I was what? What sort of sick minded bitch are you?"

I could make out the distant forms of approaching VTOLS through the smoke before another full palm slap connected with my cheek, and I stepped off the back of Unit five to land in the deep crater to avoid another attack.

I stood in the shadow of the two Evas and watched the approaching aircraft while ignoring Asuka's yelled insults behind me.

"Ah the peace and tranquillity." I said with a sigh, "Just another day in Tokyo three."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Right, I'm sure to get flamed for replacing Shinji's part with Tanus in this chapter, but my reasoning is that Shinji wan't the focus for all the episodes, ( 10, 22, and 23 being examples.) and i feel Tanus deseves some time in the spotlight, he is a pilot as well.

Unit 05


	10. The Best Defence

Chapter ten: The Best Defence.

"Commander, I have that report on the pilots training regime you requested, All pilots are in line with our predictions, aside from the forth child. He's still trailing behind the others by quite a margin, but it's a moot point as his sync score doesn't seem to have any relevance on his combat performance."

"Explain."

"Yes sir, as you know the magnitude of the synchronisation between the Unit and the pilot effects the agility and control during combat and training exercises, as well as other, more subtle effects. A pilot with the Forth Child's score should be able to move the unit in basic tactical formations and handle weapons with enough success that they can be placed on the active duty roster and can be deployed as support for higher scoring pilots.

Tanus has shown enough skill to be deployed in a point position, has an unusually high knowledge of combat procedures and tactical movement, and his Eva responds to his subtle movements as if his score was in the upper hundreds, but it's languishing at the bottom of the heap. Even with the reasons you provided, I just don't understand it."

"Do not trouble yourself with sync score anomalies, instead focus on increasing his and the other pilots training to more complex manoeuvres and squad tactics. Defeating the Angels is our primary concern."

"Yes commander."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The evening before the trip was spent like any other, the three Eva pilots killing time after another's day training until Misato got back from her shift and we could decide on dinner. I was dozing on the sofa, my cap over my face to block out the light, Shinji was sat on the floor watching television, and Asuka was reading one of her magazines by the patio windows, her last-minute purchases in the bags beside her. The only sound was the low chatter of the television programme and the flick of Asuka turning the pages.

The sound of the living room door opening caused the three of us to look up and I pushed the peak of my cap away from my eyes as Shinji greeted the exhausted-looking Misato with a smile.

"Oh hey Misato, how was your shift?"

"Same old, same old." She said with a sigh, pushing my feet from the cushions with her hand and collapsing into the space, "The intercept system is still giving us a major headache, it'll take months to bring it up to a hundred percent effectiveness. That's why you'll all on permanent standby as of now."

"What?" Asuka's shriek caused me to flinch, she could reach a high pitch when she wanted; "That means I can't go on the trip! What jackass decided that?"

"This one," Misato press a thumb to her chest, "The Operations Director and your commanding officer."

"Shinji," Asuka barked, "act like a man and talk some sense into this woman!"

"Why me? I already expected this." Shinji was quick to back away from the problem,

"So you've already given up? Pathetic!" she turned her gaze to me, with a look that allowed no argument, "You'll convince her that she's making a mistake wont you?"

"Standby status doesn't seem so bad." I said sleepily, stifling a yawn with my hand,

"What are you? Stupid? Standby means we have to stay here and be ready to launch at a moments notice. We can't go to Okinawa!"

"Why not? Headquarters had said it was fine."

"Look," said Misato with a sigh, "I know you guys are upset, but we need you nearby in case an Angel attacks. The intercept system isn't strong enough to repel them by itself."

"So we have to do constant training and preparation against an attack that may or may not come?" Asuka muttered angrily, "Sharpening a blade too much dulls the edge, Misato. Shouldn't we find them and attack them first?"

"If we could do that we would." Misato responded calmly, then quickly switched track, "Think of this as a chance to get ahead of your classmates with your school work." She pulled three discs from her pocket and held them up, I could make out our names written at the top, "Or did you think I didn't know about your test scores yet? Well, your reports are forwarded directly to my terminal. I'm very disappointed with the three of you."

"Well this country's grading system is just dumb," Said Asuka with a shrug, "The numeric method is an out-dated and inaccurate display of my skills."

"I know I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Hell, I'm probably a spoon," I argued, "But even I can see that Asuka's got a point. The numeric system belongs in the eighties. Its not flexible enough to cope with the diversity of skill levels in our class."

"You two could just try to adjust to Japanese schooling." Misato said with a calm that just seemed to irritate Asuka further, " "In Rome do as the Romans do.""

"Yeah, but where's the fun in conformity?" Asuka said, hands on her hips, "This sucks."

"I'm sorry, maybe when the other Eva's are finished and we have more pilots we can afford to give you guys more free time."

"But there's only four of us." I said with a sigh, covering my eyes with my cap again, "Besides, training is kind of fun. I'll stay."

"Yeah, me too." Added Shinji with unusual force, I gave him a gentle punch on the shoulder.

"Psyched up and ready to fight huh? The Angels are in trouble now."

"Get serious," Asuka snapped, "there'll be nothing left once Unit Two is finished with them."

"Glad to hear it." Said Misato and gave us a proud smile before she disappeared down the corridor to her room.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The next day was unusual in that Ritsuko hadn't scheduled the four pilots for any tests until the afternoon, so Shinji and I had taken advantage of the free time to set up our laptops and assorted papers on one of the tables inside one of the geo-fronts sports centres that overlooked the pool, trying to finish the mountain of work that our teachers had left us quickly so we wouldn't have to worry about it for a week, and reasoning that if we worked in the geo-front we wouldn't have as far to go if Misato's fears materialised.

Rei had come out of her self-imposed isolation and was stood on the diving board in her school swimsuit, Shinji and myself watching her silently out of the corner of our eyes, then slid of her elevated position with a graceful swan dive and entered the water with barely a ripple.

"What've you guys got there?" Asuka called, her voice echoing though the room and causing the two males to quickly focus on the papers before them.

"Basic physics primer." Said Shinji hurriedly, grasping a file at random.

"If this is basic, I'd hate to see the advanced." I added, flicking through the textbook, "This stuff is hard."

"Such obedient students," Asuka said mockingly, I could hear her walking closer, "Why can't you lighten up and have some fun for once."

"Well, we'd have to study it anyway-," Shinji began; looking up from his laptop at something over my shoulder, then fell silent with his eyes wide.

I turned in my chair, and found my eyes level with Asuka's chest, the red and white striped swimsuit she was wearing revealing more skin than it covered, and I knew my face mirrored Shinji's. Kensuke would kill to get a photo of this.

"Well? What do you think?" Asuka spun slowly on the spot, our treacherous eyes following the movement, "I bought it for the trip, but as I can't go diving in Okinawa, lets do it here."

My imagination conjured up an image and I quickly stomped it out, fearing womankind's ability to read my mind and the possible repercussions, Shinji seemed to have shared my vision, as he sounded hoarse when he replied.

"Do, do what?"

"Diving, idiot." Asuka said with a roll of her eyes, leaning over my shoulder and spinning Shinji's laptop round to face her, I focused on the wall to my left and tried to ignore the pressure on my back, humming helped.

"You can't solve an easy problem like this?" The Second Child muttered, her fingers dancing over the keyboard, "There. It's done. Its simple when you know how." She turned the laptop back to Shinji and stood up with a triumphant expression.

"Wait, if you can solve problems at this level, how come you always seem to do badly on tests?" Shinji protested

Asuka sighed, removed her diving goggles from her forehead and gave them a polish with her thumb, "Its because I'm having trouble translating the questions into a language I can understand. I didn't have to study Japanese in collage."

"You went to collage? At your age?" This new information seemed to shock Shinji more that Asuka's swimsuit,

"I graduated last year." Said Asuka, returning her goggles to their place, "With flying colours."

"You should try the training course for NERV techs," I suggested, "the damn thing is a challenge even for adults with your kind of education. I barely scraped through."

The girl snorted, and lent back to examine Shinji's work again, "What does this one say?"

"Erm, it's a question about thermal expansion." He looked like he didn't know where to put his eyes, he settled for the screen.

"Thermal expansion? That's kids stuff!" Asuka said, trying not to laugh, "To put it in terms you might understand, most things get larger when they get hot, and shrink when they get cold, okay?"

"It sounds simple enough, but-" Shinji began, but Asuka cut him off,

"Look, if I was to warm up my breasts with my hands, do they shrink or expand?"

She clutched at her chest to demonstrate and Shinji went from pale to bright red in less then a second, I returned to staring at the wall, suppressing any Asuka related thoughts while my friend spluttered.

"I don't think about things like that!" he said quickly and Asuka rolled her eyes and turned away,

"Boring little boy." she muttered in German as she walked off, "Nothing compared to Kaji…"

I turned in my chair to watch her return to her diving equipment at the other end of the pool and began to pull it on, adjusting straps and valves as she did so.

Shinji was watching Rei pull herself clear of the pool and dry her hair on a towel she had left nearby, then she picked up a small book and flicked through the pages, seating herself on one of the wooden chairs.

"Rei's quite the athlete," I said to Shinji, with a nod to the first child, "I couldn't do that many lengths in such a short time."

"Yeah," he replied distantly, "Say Tanus, how long-"

"Hey guys!" Asuka's shriek cut him off again, "Watch this!"

We turned once more, this time to face Asuka where she was sat at the edge of the pool,

"Back roll entry!" she cried then pushed herself back into the water with none of Rei's grace. Shinji gave a weary sigh and I grinned, giving the girl a victory sign when she surfaced.

"Attention, all pilots prepare to sortie, I say again, all pilots prepare to sortie." The PA blared, causing two European curses, "All Eva Pilots report to briefing room seven immediately."

"Just our luck," I muttered as I offered Asuka a hand up, "Misato was right."

"Think of the combat bonus on your pay check," Asuka said, ignoring my hand and hauling herself from the water and began to remove her diving equipment. Rei had vanished.

I shrugged and left the room at the run, falling in beside Shinji as he weaved though the crowded corridors, giving him a reassuring grin.

"Time to save the world again."

"Yeah. Lets do it."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The Thing that occupied the briefing room's main screen put me in mind of a human embryo, having two arms, two tiny legs and even five fingers on each hand, but the scale said it half the size of an Eva and the beginnings of a tail from its pelvis.

"That's an Angel?" Shinji said, and Ritsuko nodded opposite him,

"Correct, it must be a chrysalis state that precedes the adult stage we are familiar with, it is currently in the Mount Asama crater. Your mission will be to capture this angel alive and in a state as close to its original as possible."

"What if we fail?" Asuka asked, staring at the picture uncertainly,

"Then it must be destroyed, understood?"

"Roger." The four of us coursed,

"The primary combat pilot will be," Ritsuko began and Asuka quickly raised her hand, hopping from foot to foot in her swimsuit anxiously,

"Pick me please, I love diving!" she pleaded,

"Asuka." Ritsuko finished and Shinji and I exchanged surprised looks, I had expected it to be him. "You will handle the mission."

"Sure, it'll be easy!" said Asuka confidently,

"Unit One and Unit five will be deployed as back up and fire support respectively." Ritsuko continued,

"And me?" said Rei softly, stepping forwards in her still wet swimsuit,

"The equipment we are using hasn't be standardised for use on the prototype model, therefore you will remain here on standby."

"Yes ma'am." Rei replied and stepped back to her place in line with parade square precision.

"Poor little Rei," Asuka whispered, "She never gets to have any fun."

The first child's eyes flicked towards her for a second then she returned them to the screen without reacting. Ritsuko stepped into the silence.

"An A-17 has been ordered, so you'll have to roll our immediately."

"Yes ma'am." The three active pilots replied.

"Asuka," Ritsuko herded us out, "You'll need one of the heat resistant plugsuits for this operation, come with me."

Three minutes later I was stood in the cage with Shinji and Rei, staring up at the bloated form of Unit two in the bulky D-type with amusement, it was sat against the back wall of cage six, like a discarded toy, with the dull grey suit covering every inch of the machine except its face, which had thick glass or some other clear material allowing the pilot a view of the outside.

"Unit Two! What have you done to it?!" I heard Asuka shriek from the lift beside us, a glance in her direction turned into a full stare once I realised what was different. She was an almost perfect circle, her head sticking out the top like an afterthought, and just slim enough to allow her though the doors to the cage. How she was supposed to pilot wearing that was a mystery.

"Go ahead," Asuka snarled, noticing my expression, "Laugh. I'll make sure it's the last thing you do."

"What? Did you say something funny?" I replied, fighting to keep a straight face, "I don't see anything amusing here, oh no."

"You didn't tell me that the suit did this!" Asuka snapped at Ritsuko, "You can forget it! I'm not piloting while wearing this stupid thing! This is the sort of thing you have Shinji for!"

"I'm so disappointed," said a new voice and I looked upward to se Kaji on one of the walkways above us, Asuka froze in horror, "I was looking forward to seeing you fight again, Asuka."

"Doctor Akagi, how could you let Kaji see me in this awful thing?" Asuka stomped a foot and looked so ridiculous I had to cover my laughter with hollow coughing.

"Type D equipment is designed to protect you from extreme environmental duress, not for the catwalk."

"Yeah," I added, the coughing fit had passed, "Would you rather go into the lava without it? You'd not last long, even with an AT field."

"If you're so smart why don't you wear it?"

"I would, but I don't look as good in red." I tapped my chest, "Green is more my colour."

"Use of D-type equipment means removing both shoulder pylons. Safe disengagement of unit five's targeting computers would take several hours. Unit one would require extensive refit of its amour mounts, which would also take too long. Unit Two is the only viable option." Ritsuko said, examining something on her clipboard,

"Then I will go in Unit Two." Said Rei suddenly, raising a hand, "its exterior appearance matters little."

Asuka slapped down Rei's hand; "There's no way in hell I'm letting you near my Eva. I'd rather do it then let you take my place."

She looked up at her swollen Eva and said something, so softly I almost missed it "I'm sorry, but they made me do it."

Ritsuko stepped forwards, "The rest of you get aboard your Eva's, we've wasted enough time as it is. Move!"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

We used the highway that ran near Mount Asama as a makeshift airstrip for the arrival of the Evangelions, the huge transports "hedge hopping" towards the drop zone and lowering the harnesses for our feet to touch the tarmac, then disengaging the locks as it flared over the roadway, the sudden drop in speed eliminating any forward motion we would have made, The large amount of houses nearby prevented a normal combat drop.

I saluted C-22 Bravo as it climbed skywards once more, picked up the positron rifle that lay nearby, and ejected my right pylon and let it fall to the ground. Then I slid my arm into the armoured sleeve to grip the firing stud, the huge weapon connecting to the now unoccupied pylon mount and turning my right arm rigid. Tracking a moving target would be difficult.

I could feel the heat of the barrel against my arm as the weapon charged, energy from the national grid now diverted to aligning the magnetic coils, and used my free hand to attach my umbilical cable as the roar of C-22 Alpha drew closer, dropping its cargo with barely a pause, the purple Eva quickly clearing the drop zone as C-22 Charlie lined itself up on the strip, Unit two slung underneath like a puppet.

"What ever you do, don't laugh." I warned Shinji as the Eva landed awkwardly, steadying itself on a nearby house with a claw-like hand, and Units Five and One suddenly found more interesting things to examine in the distance, deliberately not looking at the unit waddling pathetically up the mountainside.

"All Eva's move to your designated positions." Misato ordered, her face a welcome sight on my HUD "Lets get this operation done quickly and effectively. Commander Ikari wants no mistakes."

"Hey, is Kaji here yet?" Asuka asked, her Eva now stood near a lava chimney about halfway up the volcano and was turning its head to search the personnel gathered around the huge crane that dominated the slope, I moved my Eva up beside her, Shinji standing on her right.

"God's gift to women wont be coming, he has no business here." Said Misato irritably and closed the link, obviously Kaji was still tormenting her.

"Aww." Asuka muttered as she was hoisted onto the crane, secured in place, and large coolant pipes where attached, "I wanted him to see me capture a live Angel."

My targeting computer beeped as it registered new contacts and small yellow symbols appeared on my HUD, at the limit of my sensor range, indicating allied forces.

"What are those? Jets?" Shinji asked, watching the distant vapour trails,

"Looks like a B-52 squadron with F-22 fighter escorts." I added, examining the aircraft with my weapons scope, "A large formation, and enough ordinance to turn this mountain into a valley."

"The UN and JSSDF will be standing by, until this op is over at least." Ritsuko explained from the command car at the base of the mountain.

"Are they here to help?" Asuka asked hopefully,

"No, to clean up the mess if we fail." The doctor replied flatly, "They'll use N2 depth charges to destroy the angel, us as well if we're not careful."

"What kind of idiot would authorise that?" Asuka spat,

"Commander Ikari." Ritsuko said, and then closed the link. Shinji snarled and muttered something; I tapped his shoulder with my free hand,

"Don't worry, Shinji. Your Father wouldn't let that happen."

"How can you be so sure?" Asuka asked from where she hung, I turned to face her, heavy rifle swinging round over the crater's edge.

"From what I've seen of the man, it wouldn't be for personal reasons, He can replace these machines, but not us. We all have valuable combat experience against these monsters. Only an idiot throws that away."

"Okay guys, cut the chatter." Misato re-appeared on our HUDs, "Asuka, are you ready?"

"On standby. Ready when you are."

"Roger," the captain turned to someone off screen, "fire the laser bore and prepare to lower Unit two into position."

A small box shaped object on the end of the crane boom glowed red for a second, then fired a short blue beam into the fiery lake below, cutting through the crust and allowing liquid rock to bubble out of the opening like blood from a wound. Shortly after, the winch whirled into life and Unit two began to sink downwards, clutching the electromagnetic cage frame in both of its hands.

"Unit five, we need you to be our eyes and ears." Ritsuko informed me as the Eva drew closer to the lava, "Unit two's sensory equipment isn't going to be much use down there. Stay vigilant."

"Roger."

I booted up my data transmission software and connected my computer to unit two's, using its sonar equipment and my own pylon mounted gear to scan the surrounding magma for the target.

"Unit two is entering the lava." Maya reported,

"Hey look at this Shinji!" Asuka called and her Eva extended its right leg forward while pushing its left back, entering the lava in that ridiculous position "A perfect scissor dive!"

"Ten out of ten." Shinji replied, rolling his eyes at me, I stifled a chuckle.

"Current depth; one-seventy. Rate of decent: twenty. No problems detected. Visibility is zero." Asuka was suddenly professional and alert; joking down there could get her killed. "CT monitor has little effect."

"Roger," I replied, my eyes focused on the deep scan radar and sonar screens I had pasted to the HUD, "No contacts so far."

Silence fell on the camp as the Eva was lowered further and further into the lava, Maya reading off the depth every few seconds. I rested my finger on the trigger and released the safety locks, ready to fire at a moment's notice as the tension mounted.

"Unit has passed the 1050 safety depth, the positron rifle's effectiveness will be limited any further down."

"Stay alert everyone," Misato cautioned, "Asuka, you should be near the target now, do you see anything?"

"Negative." Asuka replied, pinging her sonar, "Its not here."

"Confirmed," I added, "scope is clear."

"The lava currents must be faster than we thought," Ritsuko mused, "The Eva's velocity alone is different from our predictions."

"Hurry up and recalculate," Misato ordered, then turned back to the screen, "Continue the decent, the mission must go on."

The tension returned in force as Asuka sank lower, and the minutes crept past. Unit one opening its left pylon to grip the knife within, while I didn't allow my eyes to wonder from the screens, I had to concentrate.

"We have exceeded the maximum allowed depth," Maya told us as the crane came to a halt,

"How's it looking guys?" Misato asked, "Have you made contact with the target yet?"

"Negative." Asuka replied, I echoed her, my two screens remaining blank.

"Very well, descend further. How are you holding up?"

"Nice and toasty," was the reply, "I just want to finish this and take a shower."

"There's a nice hot springs near here, we can go there once this is over. Hang in there."

"Roger."

"Maximum allowed depth, plus 120."

There was a thud and a Germanic curse over the radio, "I've lost my prog knife, the pressure destroyed the harness."

"Maximum allowed depth, plus 200."

"Captain Katsuragi, you have to stop this!" Hyuga burst out, "This isn't one of those probes, and there's a human being inside there! Any further and the pressure could…"

"I will manage this operation as I see fit, Lieutenant." Misato snapped, "And I am aware of the dangers. If you object, feel free to write it into your report. Continue further."

"Misato's right." Asuka added, "I don't need the knife anyway. I can go on."

"Depth 1780."

"Contact! Contact!" I interrupted, staring at a sudden bright blip on my HUD "Target moving right to left across Unit Two's front."

"Good job Tanus. Asuka, prepare for capture."

"Roger."

"Because of the convection current that's moving both you and the target, you'll only have one shot at this." Ritsuko explained.

"Consider it done."

A few more seconds passed, filled with reports flowing to and from the command car, my finger tightened on the trigger, the waiting was killing me. The blips representing the angel and Unit Two converged.

"Cage has been spread. No problems detected. The target has been captured."

A cheer went up then, Pilots, Techs and Command Crew all venting the tension of the past half an hour. The two Eva's on the surface exchanging relived nods as the crane reversed the thick cables; quickly pulling Unit two and its cargo back up.

"Excellent work guys." Misato broadcast proudly, "lets get it back to the surface so we can get out of here."

"Sample transport is standing by ma'am."

"Units one and five, stand down. The operation is completed."

I wiped the sweat from my brow then, it dissolved into the LCL around me and allowed myself to relax, pointing my weapon safely skywards as I waited for Asuka's triumphant return.

"Asuka, are you okay?" Shinji asked, worry clear on his face,

"Of course I am, this was a walk in the park." She replied, "The only thing to fear is fear itself."

"Wow." I breathed, examining the Angel through Asuka's video feed, "I wonder what they're going to do with it?"

Asuka shrugged, "Maybe test weapons on it, find weaknesses. It's a giant lab rat now."

A part of me felt satisfied at that, not to mention relieved at the thought of an easier time from now on.

"High energy reading inside the cage." A tech yelled, and I snapped my eyes back to my screens, why hadn't I noticed the build up?

"The Angel's hatching?" Ritsuko said fearfully, "but it's too soon!"

"Cage status." Misato barked.

"It wasn't built to handle this."

"Damn it, abort the capture! Jettison the cage!" Our CO ordered, "Primary objective has been changed, we must destroy the target. All Eva's prepare for combat."

"Ready, willing and able ma'am." I yelled, pointing my weapon down the shaft and powering up, "Lets do it."

"This Angel's going to pay for everything I've gone through today." Asuka added, and then swore, "_Verdammnt,_ I forgot I dropped the prog knife."

The blip on my screen suddenly leapt across the distance between it and Unit two, but she somehow managed to avoid it, and the blip circled around to her rear.

"I've lost track of it." She said, and I could see her turning in her seat to try and follow the Angels movements, "its fast."

"Unit five, covering fire!"

"Yes, ma'am." I pulled the trigger and two spheres of blue energy screamed downward, missing the target by mere feet,

I swore, lowered the targeting mask, then fired again, my Eva absorbing the recoil with ease and two more shots cut through the molten rock, missing the Angel by an even smaller margin.

"The bastard's too fast," I informed Misato angrily, "Target lock is impossible at this range."

"Shinji, drop her your progressive knife. We'll kill it the old fashioned way. Tanus, just keep that thing away from her."

More shots rained downwards, diverting the angel each time it made a move towards unit two, but none hit it, leaving it unscarred and still circling.

Beside me Shinji had removed his entire knife and sheath, hurling it into the depths without pause, the strength of the throw sending it rapidly towards our defenceless friend.

"Forty seconds until knife arrival."

"Hurry up with that thing!" Asuka shrieked fearfully, as the Angel dived past her, diverted once more by my close shots, her Eva reaching up towards the distant weapon, "fall faster!"

I pulled the trigger again and was rewarded with dead man's click as the magnetic coils misfired on an empty camber. My rifle was empty.

"I'm out!" I yelled and the Angel surged forwards, taking advantage of Asuka's vulnerability, "Some one get me a fresh clip!"

A truck at the base of the mountain rumbled into life, the armoured carriage behind it opening to reveal three more power packs, it might as well have been back at Tokyo three for the time it would take to get here. I turned away from the crater and leapt off the ledge towards it, sliding down the mountain in a mini-avalanche.

"How the hell can it open its mouth in lava?" I heard Ritsuko protest, on my sonar link with unit two the pair of blips came together as I neared the truck, scooping up a pack and sprinting back up the mountain, ejecting the spent one in my rifle as I ran.

"Reloading, Asuka hold on!"

"I have the knife!" she reported, then screamed,

"Left leg damaged!" Maya said, panic clear in her voice, "The suits been pierced, sealing off breached sections."

"Die, damn you!" Asuka bellowed and stabled at the angel with her blade, the weapon rebounding from its armour, "Its not working!"

"Its too close!" I hissed, slamming the new pack into place and returning to my place by the vent, "Any shot I make would hit her! What'll we do?"

"Think physics!" Shinji barked and an idea struck me,

"Thermal expansion!" I yelled at the same time Asuka did,

"Transfer all coolant pressure to pipe number three! Do It!" The pilot snapped and sliced the pipe free of her armour, thrusting it into the angels gaping mouth.

The angel began to convulse as the liquid poured into it, and the knife finally found purchase, cutting deep into the flesh.

Asuka kicked the dying creature away with her good leg, its claws lashing out weakly at her and its symbol disappeared from my HUD.

On screen the second child breathed a sigh of relief then lent back in her command seat, with her eyes closed. Then looked up towards the surface scant metres away, suddenly her eyes widened in surprise.

"I've killed it but my cable's damaged," She said, giving Shinji and myself a weak smile, "I'm done for."

A loud crack echoed around the mountain then, and the crane convulsed as the cable that was Asuka's lifeline snapped, unable to support the Eva's weight.

"Asuka!" Shinji yelled and leapt off the edge of the crater after her, as the other end of the cable began to sink below the fiery surface, I lunged at his umbilical cable with my free hand as it whipped past, pulling back on it with all my Eva's strength and digging in my heels to slow his fall, but I hadn't braced myself enough to counter his weight, and he dragged me towards the abyss in a cloud of dust.

_NO!_

The thought thundered in my head and I felt the Eva move beneath me, turning to face back the way I had come, cable over its left shoulder and leaning forwards, while swinging the position rifle's back towards the edge, using my speed towards death to drive the heated barrel deep into the rock and I came to a jarring halt on the very lip of the vent.

My right arm was numb to the elbow, I could feel air beneath my heels, but I was still upright, and the subtle shifting of weight at the end of the line told me that Shinji had managed to catch Asuka and they were still attached.

For a few seconds there was shocked silence, and then I heard Asuka mutter something, there was a note to her voice I hadn't heard before, a sort of approval, but I wasn't really listening, instead I felt the currents of the LCL change, the liquid brushing past my cheek like a loving caress. Then it was gone, and the radio channels where once more filled with Misato demanding status reports.

"Of course." Asuka was once more all bravado, responding to a question I hadn't heard, "Notch up another one for the good guys."

"Yeah!" I agreed as I walked my Eva forwards, hauling the others out of the lava vent and leaving them in a pile beside the destroyed crane.

"That was excellent teamwork and squad coordination." Ritsuko appeared on our HUDs, "I'll be sure to inform the commander of your actions in my report."

"Wow." Asuka said sarcastically as the link closed, "That'll make my day."

"Would you rather have some coco beans," I said with an evil grin, "Umpa Lumpa?"

"What?" her Eva began to thrash about angrily where it lay on its back, "Come here and say that!"

I laughed as her curses increased in volume, another Angel had been defeated, and all four Eva's where fully operational with at least two more well on the way to completion. The Angels would lose this war.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The setting sun cast its dying rays onto the surface of the hot springs, and giving the water an unusual orange tint, my cap covered my eyes, the only piece of clothing I had on, to keep the sunlight out as I dozed. The warm waters quickly washed my mental and physical exhaustion away.

I pushed up the peak of my cap as a sudden squawking destroyed the silence and Pen-Pen charged from the changing rooms and leapt into the pool beside me with all the grace of a thrown brick, flailing his wings happily as Shinji slid into the pool as well,

"Kaji sent him." He replied to my unspoken question and lent back against the rock as he allowed his stress to vanish, "This feels like heaven."

"You've got to hand it to volcanic action." I agreed, returning my cap to its place, "I haven't felt this relaxed in ages."

The tranquillity returned once more, I felt the penguin float past my face, like a boat on a lake. I pushed him away, earning an annoyed squawk.

"Shinji," I said, sitting upright, "you wanted to ask me something?"

"Hmm?" he opened one eye, "I did?"

"This morning, before we came here. You were about to say something when the alarm went off."

"Oh yeah," he opened both eyes, "I just wanted to know more about you."

I arched my eyebrows, "About me? There's no much to say. I've been a part of NERV in one form or another for a long as I can remember."

"What about your parents, don't you have family?"

"Nope." I replied, leaning back. "No brothers, no sisters, no grandparents. Just me."

"I'm sorry." Shinji said hurriedly, "I didn't mean to pry."

"Don't worry about it, I know you didn't." I dismissed his apology with a hand, "You were just curious. I understand."

"Its just that, well, you seem to know a lot about my father."

"All I know about Gendo Ikari is that he's the head of NERV, he's your father, and he's in to discipline and formality in a big way. But I've met men like him before, their objectives are impossible to fathom. Although you can bet that what's right and wrong hold little sway over their designs."

I fell silent and returned to my doze to avoid any further questions. Pen-pen brushed past my face again.

"Hey, can you guys hear me?" Misato broke the silence, "Could one of you gentlemen be a dear and throw us the body shampoo?"

"We've run out of ours." Asuka added and I felt for the bottle beside me then threw it to Shinji, him being closer to the bamboo divides and I couldn't bring myself to move.

"Here it comes!" he called and tossed it over the screen in a high arc.

"Ow! Watch where you're throwing, you dork!" Apparently he had managed to hit Asuka in a pool the size of Misato's living room. I grinned under my hat.

"Someone give that boy a coconut."

"He hit me in a really sensitive spot." Asuka moaned,

"Sorry!"

"Aw, let me take a look!" I heard Misato reply playfully, amid the sound of splashing.

"Stop it! You're tickling me!"

"Wow, your skin is so soft and smooth, Asuka!"

"Let me go!"

I coughed loudly, hearing a yelp followed by a splash on my side of the divide, and I folded my arms behind my head, still staring at the fabric of my cap.

"Thermal expansion?" I asked the world at large,

"Shut up."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	11. Scraping away the darkness

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Chapter 11: Scraping away the darkness.

I must have finally have become acclimatized to Japan's constant summer weather, as the sun blazing in the cloudless sky above barely effected me where I was lent against the chain link fence at the edge of the Astroturf field where most of our PE lessons took place. Today it was a joint lesson, boys and girls competing against each other under the watchful eyes of a teacher; Hikari had already threatened Toji with a tennis racket due to his lewd comments.

The other Eva pilots sat next to me as we waited for a court to become available, the teacher had paired the four of us into opposite gender doubles. Asuka was less then pleased with her partner, and was quick to put her in her place with whispered instructions.

"… You let me handle the closer shots, okay First? Don't get in my way."

"Understood."

I was juggling a few tennis balls while discussing strategy with Shinji; together we had formulated a much simpler approach.

"Aim for the redhead."

Shinji sniggered and twirled his tennis racket between his palms as the yellow spheres crossed paths in complex little circles, occasionally he would pick up another from the basket beside him and toss it in with the others, so far I was up to five.

The shrill of the teacher's whistle caused me to lose concentration with a curse as tennis balls dropped to the ground.

"Okay, Switch it out!"

I picked up my racket and examined it while running for a court, it was obliviously school issued, the grip was frayed and bound up with tape, It was probably older than I was.

Shinji tossed a ball over the net to Asuka, and I took up position behind him, racket resting my shoulder nonchalantly.

"Ladies first."

Asuka ignored my sarcastic comment, bouncing the ball up and down by her foot, testing the ground, before throwing it upwards and extending her arm back to send it straight towards my face in a yellow blur.

I stepped backwards and countered with a light tap that drifted it back over the net, Asuka threw herself prone to catch it, the ball flying back in a high arc, to be hammered back by Shinji, Rei intercepted it.

The rally continued for a long time, neither side allowing the ball to touch the court or leave its boundaries. A crowd of other players gathered, watching the ball drift back and forth.

"Just give up Tech!" Asuka called, as she deflected the ball back towards the male pilots, "You know this is pointless, you can't beat me."

"Give me a kiss Asuka, and I'll do anything you say." My return stroke slammed the poor sphere back over the net, so fast my eye couldn't follow it, but Rei countered it easily. "And I mean _anything_." The crowd laughed

"I'm glad we're playing tennis, now you can get all the balls you need." Asuka replied with a smirk, even I laughed at that one. The ball nearly hit me in the face, I sent it back.

"Nice, very nice. Add some more make up and you become a clown."

"Aw, tech." She replied mockingly, "You really hurt my feelings with that one."

"Heh, I just not very good at being mean, that's all I've got."

"It shows." The ball came back, "Don't give up your day job."

"Career guidance from you? I thought those meetings were next week?"

Asuka held a hand up to her mouth in mock horror, while Shinji and Rei battled for supremacy, "And he's back, the sarcastic Englishman everyone loves."

"You know it. It'll take more that the Germanic dragon to stop me." I slammed the ball back towards her to emphasize, "Saint Peter was English too."

"He was more man too."

"I doubt it, I'm like the English Chuck Norris, but with less facial hair. Looks good on you though."

"Such sweet things you say, you really know how to treat a woman."

I gave her a quick bow, "Who says chivalry is dead?"

By now the players on the court were glistening with sweat, and even Rei was showing signs of tiring as she sent the ball back, I missed it by inches.

"Ha," Asuka replied smugly, her hands on her hips, as I ran to get it, "I told you."

I shrugged as I picked up the yellow ball, throwing it calmly over the net again.

"There's still all to play for." I replied, "Bring it."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Career guidance sessions, ha!" Asuka said, reading the form that the class rep had handed out after the lesson as we waited at a crossroads for the lights to change, "I think I know what we'll be doing for the rest of our lives."

"I'm not so sure," Shinji replied. "I mean, who knows how many Angels there are left? Maybe we've beaten them all."

"If that were true we would have been discharged from active duty." Rei added, "We must assume that several Angels are still planning an offensive."

"The last few didn't look like they where planning anything." I muttered, "They just appeared, did some damage, and got shot. I've seen Lemmings with more tactical sense."

"The point I'm trying to make," Asuka continued forcefully as we crossed, "Is that we already have jobs. So the interview is a waste of time."

"Its also a review of your progress to date," Rei pointed out, "Captain Katsuragi would want to know those results."

"I'm, I'm still going to tell my father about it." Shinji said suddenly, "He is my parent, so he should be told."

Asuka and myself exchanged glances, silently questioning the thought, and then I nodded to my friend,

"It's worth a try. Maybe he'll agree to it."

Shinji walked a little behind us as he pulled his mobile phone from a pocket and dialled, I raised a questioning eyebrow. So he already knew the number for the commander's office, how many times had he tried to get through to the elder Ikari?

"Man these constant tests get on my nerves." Asuka said, diverting my attention, "We sleep, go to school and train. There's no time for fun."

"We are fighting a war here, you know."

"Yeah, but soldiers aren't fighting all day, everyday. They get time off."

"They also get crushed under the feet of giant invading aliens, want to swap with them?"

"We need to be on a constant state of readiness," Rei explained in that soft voice, "Angel attacks are difficult to predict with any kind of accuracy. If nothing else, constant training keeps us nearby for when we are needed."

Asuka sighed, "Always with the logical answers, you're no fun either."

Shinji rejoined us then, just as we entered the monorail station to the geo-front, looking downhearted,

"Did he say no?" I asked, "At least you tried, right?"

"He didn't even hear me out." He said with a sigh,

"Maybe he was just really busy." Asuka suggested, "Running NERV must be a hard job."

"I don't think so, it didn't sound like he hung up. More like the line failed."

"Ah, Military equipment, always works." I said with a sigh of my own, running my card through the reader. The screen remained blank.

"You're a man you know. Why do you let every little incident get under your skin?" Asuka said to Shinji, pushing her own card through, seeming not to notice that the machine didn't respond.

"Hey, its not accepting my card." I said, trying each reader in the wall, "but they just renewed the damn thing."

"Stupid thing! It must be broken, damn it!" she punched the inches thick metal door after trying her own card several times. "Tech, sort this out. Doctor Akagi will kill us if we're late for a test."

"I can't, maintenance of entrances must be done from the interior to prevent security breaches. There's nothing on this side that'll open it."

Rei was wandering around the room, typing commands into the terminals by each door, "None of these facilities work, most odd."

I joined her at a terminal and used my screwdriver to remove the front panel, unhooking a voltmeter from my belt and connecting it to a pair of wires.

"Strange," I said, replacing the panel and reattaching the device to my tool belt, "The power's out. I have a bad feeling about this."

"Has something happened in the geo-front?" Asuka mused, staring at the terminal,

"A logical assumption."

"Well, lets try to contact headquarters." Shinji suggested, and dialled a number on his phone; Asuka did the same on the green emergency phone near the entrance. I tried to force open the door. It might as well have been a wall.

"Nothing, it's disconnected." He said after a few seconds, Asuka returned the green phone to its cradle,

"This one too, the main and emergency lines are all down."

"We've been sabotaged." I said angrily, "There's no other way that all of NERV's power circuits and phone lines could have failed at once."

"How can you be sure? Accidents do happen you know."

"NERV central has three back up circuits, same as every NERV facility, as well as the main power feed from the national grid. Each has multiple safety measures added, redundant wiring, secondary generators and the like. All those systems failing at one time reeks of human intervention." I punched the wall to vent my frustration, "First major incident in NERV HQ: Performed by humans, bastards."

"So what'll we do?" Shinji asked as Rei pulled a small red book from her school bag, Asuka began to rummage for hers and I patted my pockets, searching for mine.

"In the event of power failure to NERV facilities, all Pilots are to report to their respective Cages and await orders." Rei read, placing the book with care back inside her bag.

"That's right, but before we go anywhere we need to decide who shall be this groups leader," Asuka said loudly, "to ensure that the team acts effectively during this crisis."

"Nice speech," I said, still checking pockets, "Was that a spur of the moment thing, or do you have it written down on a little card?"

"I, of course, have the best qualifications," Asuka answered my comments with a glare, "Any objections?"

Shinji and I shook our heads; arguing at this time wouldn't help, and she gave a grin and turned to face a door to our right, "Then lets go!"

"Pedestrian access is best from this way," Rei suggested, pointing to the door to our left, "Route seven heads to the geo-front from this location."

Our fearless leader rallied magnificently; turning so quickly her hair nearly hit me in the face, "Then lead the way Shinji."

"But there's no power, how'll we get in?" he asked as we walked closer, then he noticed the turn handle, "Oh, we can open it manually."

"There you go fellas," Asuka was enjoying her self-appointed leadership, "You are now the Passage clearing division, this is your department."

"Gee thanks," I muttered as the two males each grabbed a handle, "my dream job."

"You're the one who always wants to be in charge," Shinji panted to Asuka as the door slowly jerked open, "but when the going gets tough, you always defer to us."

"She's a woman," I pointed out, ducking through the door to grab the handle on the over side to prevent it from slamming closed again, "Its what they do."

"I find it's amazing what a man would do for just a simple smile," Asuka said as she stepped through the door like a conquering hero and gave me one to demonstrate, I rolled my eyes and the Passage clearing division fell in behind as she headed downwards, lit from below by the red emergency lights.

The air around us steadily became warmer and more humid with every passageway Asuka led us down, until sweat dripped from the back of my neck to soak my coveralls, and the sight of yet more darkened steel corridors trigged something at the back of my mind, I shook it off.

"This trip usually takes two minutes." Shinji said as Asuka pointed us down a pitch-black passageway, "You are sure this is the right way?"

"Of course, we'll be at the geo-front any minute now."

"I've heard that before." He muttered and yelped when Asuka slapped him in the darkness,

"Stop being so negative! You're always nit-picking everything I suggest. That's bad for morale."

Our passageway came to an end over a huge drop; it looked like one the Eva equipment building's supply lift.

"Well, we can't go any further this way." I said, kicking a lose screw over the edge into the void.

"Silence please." Rei asked softly,

"What now, Wonder Girl?" Asuka barked, diverting her rage from Shinji, "Do you want to complain too?"

"Listen." The Japanese girl replied calmly.

I strained my ears; hearing my own breathing, water rushing through a nearby pipe and the distant sound of someone shouting.

"Some ones in trouble, what of it?" Asuka snapped, "There's nothing we can do."

I held up a finger for silence, the voice sounded familiar and a distant light broke the darkness on the other side of the chasm,

"That's Hyuga."

Rei shrugged and examined a wall panel nearby while Asuka and Shinji tried in vain to attract the adult's attention,

"Pilot Harrab I require your assistance."

"You've got it."

"Please pass me your tools and boost me up to that section of wiring."

I did as I was instructed and allowed the first child to stand on my shoulders as the voice became clear enough to understand.

"… An Angel is approaching; I say again, an Angel is approaching…."

"Well that's just perfect." I muttered,

"Then we must hurry, this is a shortcut." A small panel landed nearby, "Follow me."

"Don't forget that I'm the leader here!" Asuka spat, spinning round to glare at Rei, or rather where she thought Rei was. The first child had disappeared into a vent.

Asuka muttered something, and I offered her a lift up, keeping my eyes tightly shut.

"Don't you dare look up my dress tech!" she warned as she scrambled into the duct,

"Like its worth risking my life." I replied and relived a kick for my trouble, I forgot she could speak English, Shinji followed her silently and I pulled myself up.

The interior of the vent was tiny, my shoulder brushed the sides and I banged my head on the cold metal multiple times as I crawled after the distant shapes of my fellow Eva pilots. Sweat formed on my brow that had nothing to do with the heat, as I remembered the last time I had to crawl through vents during a power cut. I suppressed the thought, fear was difficult to hide, and quickly closed with my friends.

"Say, just what are the angels?" Shinji asked suddenly, his voice echoing in the confined space,

"Why the hell are you asking now?" Asuka shot back, without looking over her shoulder, "There's a time and a place for those kind of questions."

"I just don't understand, Angels are messengers from god, right? So why are we killing them?"

"What are you? Stupid? _They _attacked _us_. If someone attacks you its only natural that you fight back."

She looked back at us then, and frowned when her eyes made out my face in the darkness, "You okay Tech?"

"I'm fine!" I said, far too quickly, "It's just this heat, whew, heh…"

She arched an eyebrow doubtfully, but remained silent as Rei indicated that the vent was coming to an end ahead.

We dropped into another corridor lit only by emergency lighting, and were greeted by a Y-junction, the nearby walls offering no hints to the correct direction.

"Great." I said, pulling a water bottle from my bag and passing it round, "Now what?"

"We go right." Asuka announced, taking a gulp of the lukewarm water.

"I believe the correct direction is to the left." Rei suggested,

"Stop contradicting me! Shinji, what do you think?"

The boy froze under the stares of the two females and shot a glance at me, I shrugged,

"I'm not certain." He replied defensibly, "I've never been this way before."

"Well then as leader, I'm making an executive decision. Follow me."

She stared down the right hand corridor and the rest of us had no choice but to follow her, our footsteps echoing through the empty corridor as the floor stared to slope upwards. I offered the water bottle to Rei, who shook her head.

"Strange, we're going upwards again." Shinji muttered, "Maybe the other way was the correct one."

"Then why didn't you say anything earlier? Why must you pick apart everything we do?"

"There's a door." I pointed at a rectangle of light ahead, "It could be the Geo-front."

"See?" Said Asuka smugly, "Tanus, open it."

I kicked the metal door open with my boot, not trusting the automated system to open by itself, revealing Tokyo three's high street.

Before anyone could say anything, a huge black pillar slammed down in front of me, the force of the impact throwing me back into the corridor.

"What the hell was-?" I started, then the pillar moved and I found myself staring at a huge arachnid-like body, covered in dozens of huge eyes. One swivelled round in its socket to face me before it hauled its huge bulk out of view.

Asuka pushed past and grabbed the door handle, pulling it shut again with a clang and leaning her weight against it.

"I think we've found the Angel." I muttered, trying to get my breath back, Asuka nodded.

"Then we'd better hurry, now that I've visually confirmed that the Angel is here, we can't waste anytime."

She ran back down the corridor and ducked into the path that Rei suggested, the rest of us following close behind.

"You alright Tanus?" Shinji asked, running alongside, "You seem a little on edge."

"Its these corridors." I hissed back, "Quiet and dark when they should be humming with power and brightly lit. It's not right. Its just like London when-"

I snapped my mouth shut, closing my eyes as well as I buried the rising fear, I would be no use to anyone if I lost my nerve and bolted. This place was a maze.

A few more minutes where passed in silence, my treacherous memory suppressed for now, and our small group slowed to walk. The emergency lighting had failed in this part of the base and a primal fear made us halt before another junction, this one branching off in four other directions.

"This way." Rei told us, walking into the darkness without pause, and Asuka muttered something before following.

For a while the only sound was of our shoes echoing against the metal walls, I kept jerking my head round at the slightest noise, my hand found my ID card in its pocket, every clang in the darkness sounded like a gunshot.

"You're commander Ikari's favourite aren't you?" Asuka whispered, Rei didn't answer.

"I guess that mean s you get treated a little better, right?"

"Asuka, this isn't the best time for this." Shinji suggested, now back under the red glow of the safety lights.

"You always look so smug too," Asuka continued, ignoring Shinji, then snarled when Rei again refused to comment.

The German girl grabbed her shoulder and spun her round, glaring into Rei's eyes angrily, Shinji and myself hung back a little, unwilling to get drawn into the line of fire.

"Don't act so superior just because you're current favourite."

"I don't act superior." Rei replied flatly, Asuka's expression showed her disbelief, "And I'm not treated any better, that is certain."

"Don't waste my time with your blatant lies either!" Asuka snapped, her hand rising to slap the first child, and gave a start when it wouldn't move.

"Fighting with each other is a great use of our time." I said sarcastically, holding her wrist with ease, "Either leave it until the angel is dead, or face me now."

She turned her glare to me and froze when her eyes met mine, my self-discipline was stretched to breaking point, it was the only thing that kept me under control, and doubtless she could see the turmoil in my eyes as I struggled with my emotions. These corridors were dredging up memories I was having trouble burying again. And there was little room left in my head for her attitude.

"Fine, I'll leave her be for now." Asuka growled, lowering her arm, "This isn't over Wonder Girl."

Rei's choice of corridor deposited into what must have been a holdover from when the base was constructed, as dust lay on the floor up to our ankles and debris and tools lay scattered through the makeshift carpet. The hatches at both ends of the corridor, big enough to accommodate a battle tank, bore the unmistakable mark of being sealed with a blowtorch.

"There's no way I can open this with my hands." Shinji protested as Asuka shot him a commanding look,

"It can't be helped," Rei said from where she was rooting through the discarded equipment, "We will have to break into another vent in order to get to the cage. Pilot Harrab, I would like your assistance again."

I nodded, glad to have something to divert my attention and under her direction, made a makeshift crowbar out of a length of piping, Asuka whispered something to Shinji while Rei and I worked, creating two amateur levers. Rei ordered them inserted between two panels that looked identical to the others that lined the walls before she took hold of one, nodding towards the other and I took up position.

"On my mark, three, two, one, mark."

We pushed with all our strength, the ancient metal putting up remarkable resistance, straining against the rivets until the wall section fell out towards us, revealing a maintenance tunnel.

"Well done, Passage clearing division." Asuka said, crawling into the tunnel, "I'll lead the way from here."

Shinji went in close behind, Rei followed, and I pulled the panel back into position before falling inline with the others.

"This may be the only way but we look stupid." Asuka's complaint was easily detected in the narrow tunnel,

"Who's going to see in here?" Shinji reasoned, "We're not going to tell anyone. We're in the same boat as you."

"Fat chance, what would you guys know about style and-"

The rest of her sentence was cut off by a scream of surprise as the panel beneath her and Shinji gave out and they fell from view.

"I believe they have found the cage access point." Rei said, gently lowering herself down to land beside the heap that was Asuka and Shinji. In contrast, i dropped heavily on the other side, having enough sense to roll as I landed. I looked up into Ritsuko's surprised face.

"So that's where you've been, The Eva's are already on standby." She said with a smile and pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the glowing eyes of Unit One. "We were just waiting for you."

"But there's no power." Shinji said with puzzlement, rubbing the back of his head as he stood.

"It was all done by hand," She turned to stare adoringly at a group of techs hauling open the hatch to the entry plug, a black suit could be seen amongst the orange, "The commander did it."

"My, my father?" Shinji turned to look at the cluster of men, and I made out the stern face of the older Ikari hauling on one of the ropes.

"Looks like your phone call got to him." I whispered as I headed for the door to cage six, "Keep at it."

Shinji didn't answer and I chuckled as I ran through the opening into the blue glow of Unit Five's gaze, something good had happened today.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Unit Zero is reporting in." Rei was the first to activate, using strict radio procedure, even though it was over the Eva's eternal speakers, "Emergency battery packs functioning normally."

"Unit One here, I'm all set."

"Unit Two is ready to kick ass!"

"Unit Five, standing by for orders."

Commander Ikari bellowed instructions to his subordinate, from the control room above Unit One, his voice easily heard in the silence, "Sever the primary hydraulic locks."

Techs ran over the umbilical bridge in front of me and over my shoulders, fire axes in hand to hack at the exposed piping of the restraints, dispelling the pressure around my shoulders and arms. I waited until the men were back on the unbilical brudge, then pulled my arms free and flexed my fingers experimentally, the presence having banished my fear and doubt as soon as I slipped into the entry plug.

"Remove the remaining supports under your own power." Ikari ordered the four Units, "Commence launch."

I reached up to grab the umbilical bridge, pushing it away like it was on greased rails, then shook off the grip on my shoulders and stepped forwards, the other Evas did the same and we tore open weapons lockers in the opposite wall to remove pallet rifles.

"Climb into this waste vent!" Ritsuko yelled over the sounds of weapons being loaded, and I saw her point to an opening to her left, "It leads to a vertical shaft that'll take you directly to the surface." Asuka kicked it open and crouched beside it to peer into the darkness.

"More vents? This is so embarrassing."

"Hurry up! You don't have time for this!" Ritsuko scolded, "Those batteries wont last forever!"

Asuka groaned and ducked into the vent, pushing her rifle before her, the other Eva's followed. We crawled forwards for several minutes, accompanied by Asuka's muttered complaints and the sounds of armour sticking metal. I kept one eye on the timer

"Vertical shaft in sight." Rei reported, her position behind Asuka meant that I couldn't see past them.

There was a thud, then a series more as the hatch rebounded of the sides of the shaft, then a final clang as it hit bottom.

Unit two grabbed onto the top of the open hatch and swung herself up so her feet slammed into the opposite side of the concrete shaft, her arms fully extended to push against the sides, and slowly, she edged herself upwards.

"Kind of makes you nostalgic for the catapults huh?" Shinji said as he followed, his rifle held in his teeth, as my Eva lacked a set of its own, I had to jam mine into my right pylon beside the knife. It wouldn't hold there for long.

"Actually it doesn't," I replied, bringing up the rear, "although they where faster, I'll give them that."

We were about halfway up the shaft when some kind of red liquid fell past us, glowing slightly from within and I turned my head to follow it.

"What the hell was that?" Asuka asked, pausing in her ascent, to glance back at us

More liquid fell at the moment, hitting one of Unit Zero's battery packs, burning though the plastic with ease.

"Its acidic, watch out." Rei warned, her voice showing a sign of anger, the first emotion I had heard from her.

A glance upwards showed another torrent of acid falling towards us and we pressed ourselves against one side of the shaft to let it past, one leg still forced against the other side to prevent ourselves from falling. The amount of acid seemed to be increasing,

"Move!" I yelled up to the Eva's above, once the downpour had stopped, "We can't stay here."

Asuka nodded, and her Eva sped up the shaft, when some acid connected with her arm. She swore and clutched it to her chest instinctively, but her other lost its grip and she fell towards us, knocking away our fragile handholds and sending us plummeting towards the bottom of the shaft. My rifle was knocked free of my pylon by another Eva's failing arm.

Our entry point was quickly nearing and I grabbed onto the hatch with a hand, my other reaching out to grab Unit Zero as she fell past, and she grabbed Shinji. Soon all four Eva's where hanging from my one-handed grip on the edge of the vent.

Beeping cut through my plug then, and my spare batteries disengaged, their automated systems causing them to fall from my back and down the shaft. Free of their weight, I pulled myself up, the wire musles underneath my armour giving my greater strengh and then hauled Rei up after me.

"It seems that the Angel plans to attack headquarters directly using that Acid." She said calmly, once all Evas were sheltering in the waste vent, watching another torrent fall past.

"Then what'll we do?" Shinji asked,

"What do we do? We'll beat it of course." Asuka was quick to silence Shinji,

"Yeah but how?" I wondered, "We dropped our rifles and our power is running low, mine wont last longer that another three minutes."

Asuka fell silent, her eyes closed, and the rest of us waited patiently, deferring to her intellect, until they snapped open once more, "I have an idea.

There'll be four positions; Defence, Offence, Back up and Support. Defence's job is to neutralise the Angel's AT field and protect the others from the acid, Back up will go down the shaft, retrieve the rifles and pass then to the offence and support who will then fire a volley destroying the target." She took a breath the turned to face me, a feral grin on her face, "How does that sound?"

"Foolproof," I replied, "I call Defence."

"Sorry Tech, that one's mine."

"But it's too dangerous." Shinji protested,

"That's why I'm doing it, I still owe you guys from the last time we fought an Angel, I don't like being in debt. Tanus will be Support, Shinji: Offence, and Wonder Girl: Back up. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am, Support stands ready." I clenched a fist. This had to work.

"Understood." Rei replied and closed her link.

"The operation will begin, in three, two one. Charge!"

She swung up the shaft once more and Shinji and myself fell out after her, Rei was already falling downwards calmly, her pylons snapping open to fire the jets within to slow her fall, I pushed my legs against the side of the tube and lent against Shinji's back, together we made a stable firing platform. Asuka groaned above as the acid hit. It must have been agony.

"Ayanami, hurry!" Shinji yelled, reaching downwards, but the rifles where already sailing upwards to met us, I snatched mine from the air and grinned as the stock met my shoulder.

"Defence, Clear my line of fire!" I bellowed and the red Eva pressed itself against the side, my targeting computer gave me the reassuring sound of a target lock.

The two rifles roared to life at the same moment, sending hundreds of shells towards the surface and through the Angel's defenceless body, both males holding down the triggers until dead man's click echoed through the silence.

"Target confirmed destroyed." Shinji panted and we caught Asuka as she released her grip, slamming into us just as our power ran out. our fireing platform didn't move an inch.

"Now we're even." She said, and I lent back in my command chair, the presence was filled with pride in my actions, and I basked in its glow as I waited for the recovery squads.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Darkness had fallen by the time we had been rescued from our drained Evas, and power had been restored to most of NERV headquarters.

Ritsuko had sent us home then, congratulating us on our teamwork in a difficult situation, and even Commander Fuyutsuki nodded approvingly before trailing after his superior. Ikari barely looked at us.

I seemed to be the only one troubled by this, as the four of us lay on the hill outside Misato's apartment building in our plugsuits, being too tired to change out of the clinging material and instead enjoying the glittering stars above, like diamonds on crushed velvet.

"It's ironic." Shinji said suddenly, "Without the glare of streetlights and the city, the sky can look so beautiful at night. Technology blocks the simple pleasures."

"Wow, that was deep." I said sleepily, "A real mystical wossname."

"Mankind fears the darkness, and so scrapes away at the edges of it with fire." Rei added, staring at the sky with a slight smile, "it is what makes us different from animals."

"My, everyone is so philosophic tonight." Asuka said, "but without lights, it seems that there are no humans here."

On cue, the distant lights of Tokyo three flickered back to life, and Asuka gave a satisfied huff, and the stars were obscured by light once more.

"There you go, fire for the dragon." Asuka's foot smacked into the top of my head, coming from her that was a polite warning.

"So is that why the Angels are attacking us?" Shinji asked, as I stood, brushing grass clipping from my plugsuit, "Because we have the power of science?"

"What are you, stupid? Who knows what they think." Asuka also standing to stare across the spires of Tokyo three, "but I do know that when they come, we'll be right here waiting for them."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	12. Weight of the World

Chapter 12: The Weight of the world.

Two figures ran through the unnatural storm, fighting through the fierce winds pelting them with scalding liquid and the shattered remains of the UN outpost, causing them to stagger as it hammered into their exhausted bodies.

The taller of the two lent forward determinedly, shielding the man behind him from the worst of the unnatural barrage, and forced his way through the melting snowdrifts, his eyes behind the snow mask ablaze with the fire that was reducing the continent of untouched ice to molten ruin.

The other man clutched his burden closer to his chest as the storm intensified, tearing at their clothes and burning the skin beneath, while the taller ignored it, forcing open the hanger door with his rifle.

A scene of devastation met them; the hundreds of test pods that normally lined this storehouse lay in twisted wrecks across the concrete floor.

The tall man strode across the tiles, his powerful frame seemingly untouched by the ravages of the blizzard as he threw aside his useless weapon and pulled a relatively undamaged pod clear of the wreckage, his companion forced it open and placed the huddled form of a little girl into the padded interior, pausing for a split second to stare at her face.

"She looks just like her mother." He said quietly, brushing a hand down her cheek as his friend stood beside him. "I wish I had given her the attention she deserved."

"She will survive, and she will forgive." the other man replied in a voice that brooked no argument, even after being with Japanese people and speaking their language for months, his speech still had an Arabic flare. He pulled a simple silver cross from under his fatigues and placed it around her neck. "Farewell, little one. Go with God."

She stirred then, opening her eyes to stare up at the adults beside her sanctuary in fear and confusion as blood from their wounds splashed onto her face, "Father? Colonel? What's going…?"

Doctor Katsuragi hit the hatch closing switch, cutting off his daughter's sentence, finally allowing his exhaustion to fall upon him and he slumped against the pod's flank, ignoring the sounds of her hammering on the interior.

"Thank you Nesfer," he said weakly, "I could never have done it without your help."

"No thanks are needed." Colonel Nesfer Harrab insisted, he knelt beside his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder and grasped it firmly, a final show of comradeship, "We've done all we can."

The howling winds picked up then, tearing the roof from their little hideaway and the entire continent vanished under the raging seas.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The rain outside was shocking in its intensity; I was leaning on the patio doors to watch the storm hammer the buildings of Tokyo three with tiny droplets, the clouds having arrived out of a clear sky to drench those caught out in the open. Shinji, Toji and Kensuke had been almost home when it had ambushed us.

"Thanks for letting us in Shinji." I heard Toji say in the kitchen behind me, the three of them where drying themselves on towels Shinji had pulled from the dryer. "Two weeks without a single cloud then wham! Raining like crazy."

"Say, where's Misato?" Kensuke asked, trying to sound as if it was of no real importance, I didn't turn from the glass as I replied,

"She's probably still asleep. NERV's been making her do a lot of shifts since that last attack. So keep the noise down."

"Yeah, she has a tough job at the best of times." Toji agreed, joining me at the glass, "Man, its really coming down, huh?"

Kensuke hushed him into silence and I returned my eyes to the storm, their worship of my guardian had long since grown stale, and it now just bored me. The fact that I had been forced into night shifts didn't help my mood either. My sync score still trailed behind the others and Ritsuko seemed to take it as a personal insult, so more training was slotted into what few gaps my day allowed. There wasn't many.

"Hey!" Asuka announced her arrival back home with an ear-splitting shriek, "What are these creeps doing here?"

"They're just drying themselves." Shinji explained with a shrug as his friends shushed at her, "I invited them in."

"Talk about lame excuses," Asuka said, pushing past them to enter the bathroom, "I'm going to take a shower, anyone who peeks is dead, get it?" she slammed the divide in their faces, Toji threw his towel at it.

"Who'd want to watch you? Snakes are disgusting creatures." He yelled and was cut off by my hand hitting the back of his head.

"I told you to keep it down."

"Alright, sorry. Geez, you're almost as bad as that dragon in there."

"I can be worse, want to test it?"

Just them the door to Misato's room opened and she stepped out, pulling on her uniform jacket and sliding the door shut with her foot. The four of us froze, expecting a grilling from the older woman.

"Sorry Misato, did we wake you up?" Kensuke asked, his uncertainty was almost pathetic to watch, as was his relief when she broke into her usual sunny smile.

"I was already awake, but thanks for asking." She ran a brush through her hair before turning her attention to Shinji and myself, "Don't forget there's a special harmonics test at the lab this evening, guys. Try to get there early; you know what Ritsuko's like. Asuka, did you hear that?"

"Yes ma'am." The German replied in her happy "talking to superiors" voice, "I'll be there."

Kensuke was staring at something on Misato's neck, then gasped and dropped into a formal bow, "Congratulations on your promotion, Misato."

Toji was only a nanosecond behind, I sighed and returned my eyes to the storm, "Yeah, well done."

"You boys are too kind." Misato replied with a girlish giggle that I knew was intended to encourage them, "It's really nothing."

"No way, you deserve it."

"I'll see you guys later, take care now." Misato called to the apartment at large as a lighting bolt lit the room, then left into the teeth of the storm.

"Wait, what happened to Misato?" Shinji asked once she had gone, looking lost,

"Haven't you seen her new badge?" Kensuke asked, pointing to his own collar to demonstrate, "It has two stripes on it now, that means she's been promoted to major."

"I hadn't noticed." Asuka said, stepping back through the divide in her yellow dress, and drying her hair with a red towel. She must have a wardrobe full of those things; she hardly seemed to wear anything else.

"Me neither, I wonder when that happened." Shinji mused, Kensuke and Toji looked like he suggested they perform a disgusting act with a chicken,

"None of you noticed? Don't you take time to appreciate that poor hardworking woman?" Toji asked furiously and Kensuke folded his arms and nodded agreement,

"It takes a lot of work to look after three kids at her age, not to mention her job at NERV."

"She was promoted late last night. No ceremony, just Commander Fuyutsuki presenting her with the badge in a formal box." I interrupted, still watching the downpour; "they didn't even stop my tests for it."

"That's all? We need to show her that some of us have a little human compassion." Kensuke suggested, "We'll throw her a party for when her shift ends."

"Sometimes you stooges have a good idea." Asuka said with a raised eyebrow, "That's scary."

"Its to do with Misato, of course they can think something up." I muttered, "This was just one of the cleaner ideas."

"Kensuke and Toji could get the things while we're at headquarters." Shinji added, "Then we can come back to help, Ritsuko needs us to be there for the test, Misato stays a bit longer to write the reports."

"Sounds like a plan." Asuka said, rubbing her hands together, "It'll be awesome."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Units Zero and Two are both on the edge of the contamination zone, they've reached their limit." Maya reported, typing commands into her terminal, "Halting graph depth now."

"Unit one can still handle a little more can't he?" Ritsuko responded, leaning over Maya's shoulder to examine the readout, "lower him further and let's see if he can reach Tanus's level."

On the main screen the Third Childs face lowered past the two girls, their faces locked into slight frowns, the readings beside him glowed a healthy green.

"That's the contamination zone now ma'am," A tech reported, "but the signal's still coming through clear."

"He's getting this signal strength at this depth?" The doctor replied in astonishment, pushing her glasses up her nose and writing something on her clipboard, "He's just wonderful."

"Shinji's sync score is rapidly catching up to Asuka's." Maya added, "His Harmonics are only fifty points below the Second Child's, Tanus is still way ahead of them both though."

"It's like they were born to be Eva pilots," The tech suggested with amazement, checking his screens, "Marduk sure knew what they where doing when they selected these two."

"Buts it's not what Shinji wants," Misato interrupted, the only words she had spoken since the children had climbed into the pods hours ago, "Tanus may be used to military life, but Shinji isn't really happy here."

"You may be right," Ritsuko agreed, leaning over Maya's shoulder to check a reading, "But both those boys are assets we cannot afford to lose. For mankind's sake."

Misato remained silent as the doctor stood, adjusted her coat, activated the comm. to the test chamber and informed the pilots that the test was finished, staring at the pods below while the children climbed out.

Soon, mankind's four underage defenders where stood before her, Asuka moving away from the group to check the screens, and the others standing with their backs to the windows at parade rest while Ritsuko read out the test results.

"… And I feel that Shinji is especially deserving of praise with his eight-point increase from his last test. Excellent work."

"Thank, thank you ma'am." He replied nervously,

"Its still way behind mine." Asuka snapped, effortlessly shooting down Shinji's confidence as she spun around and crossed the room angrily, "Probably a fluke."

Shinji deflated under Asuka's onslaught, until Tanus caught his eye, held it for a few seconds then gave a slight nod of his head.

The Japanese boy rallied under his friends reassuring gaze and even stood straighter when Ritsuko helped him out.

"That may be true, but eight points in ten days is amazing." Ritsuko said smoothly, pushing her fringe out her eyes, "It is rare for increases of this magnitude in such a short time span. But it still happened"

"I don't think it's so great," Asuka muttered, and then turned to smile mockingly over her shoulder at Shinji, "Okay Third. Enjoy your victory while you can. It'll be the last you'll get."

He returned her smile with a confident stare and Asuka stalked away, calling for Tanus to follow as she barged past Maya and the Tech irritably. The Englishman came to attention, saluted and followed the other pilot from the room with a slight smile on his face.

Something about his walk stirred something in Misato's memory, and she frowned as she tried to place it.

"Are you okay?" Ritsuko asked, de-railing her train of thought as Maya and the tech began to shutdown the terminals, Rei had done her usual vanishing act, leaving Shinji waiting patiently, "You've been quieter than usual today."

"Its nothing. Lets just finish those reports."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The monorails doors slid shut with a muffled click, and I watched the station draw away from us as the train accelerated away from the base, though a series of thick steel doors and into the soft light of a geo-front evening.

"I don't get it," Asuka's loud voice interrupted the calm of the train car and I turned wearily to where she was lent back in her chair, staring at the ceiling, "Why is everyone quick to treat him with kid-gloves?"

Uncertain if she was speaking to me, Rei, or just thinking aloud, I answered her carefully, "It's probably because he's unused to the lifestyle, the rest of us have been a part of NERV for a while, right? So we're used to the rigors of it's regimes, they don't want him to burn out because of all the stress."

Asuka lifted her head to stare at me in surprise, then allowed it fall back between the two headrests, "That actually made sense. I'm impressed, Tech."

"Me too. That came from a sleep deprived brain at nearly eight o'clock on a weekday after a four-hour harmonics test." I slumped in own chair, and rested my feet on the seats opposite, "Are these tests and training exercises getting longer and more complex? Or is it just me?"

"Harmonics and synchronisation tests are still within the recommended three to five hour time limit imposed by Doctor Akagi." Rei answered, her usually soft voice easily heard in the almost empty carriage, she was now wearing her school uniform, I wondered if she had any other clothes, "However, training exercises must increase in complexity and length if the squad is to be effective in a real combat situation."

"If you're coming to the party this evening, wonder girl," Asuka called, without lifting her head, "Try and lighten up. It's too late in the day for your analysis of stupid questions."

"I'm not sure that I understand, Pilot Soryu."

"No, I thought you wouldn't." Asuka sighed and adjusted her position on the chairs, now sitting in a more humane fashion, "You're not exactly the party type, are you?"

"I am not." She replied and returned to the small book she seemed to carry around a lot these days, "I dislike large gatherings."

Silence fell inside the monorail car, Asuka remarkably ignoring the chance to strike out at Rei, and I watched the tunnel lights flash past the windows, not really thinking about anything, until the familiar walls of the station nearest the apartment came into view and Asuka diverted my attention back to her with a kick to the shin.

"Get up Tech, we've got a party to organise. You can sleep later."

I gave an indignant splutter, quickly silenced with a glare and another kick, and followed her out onto the platform without further argument as she pulled Rei from the train as well.

"Come on, I'm going to turn you into a proper party animal."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

There turned out to be little to do once we had arrived back at the apartment, Toji and Kensuke proving themselves up to the task of ordering pizza and hanging a few decorations, Asuka reluctantly accepting their arrangements before vanishing from sight,

A few minutes later, she returned with her friend Hikari, the two of them sitting at the table and jabbering away to each other in rapid Japanese. Rei watched them curiously, her eyes flickering back and forth between both girls as each spoke. Occasionally she would add something politely in one of the few gaps between the other two and the whole conversation would speed up.

"She is a strange one." Toji remarked as he dropped a box of canned drinks onto the kitchen counter and nodded towards the living room as he pulled several free of the cardboard container, "Rei I mean. Although the daemon is odd too, are only weirdoes chosen to be Eva pilots?"

I ignored the implied insult; leaning against the other countertop with my arms folded, and watched the two Misato Zealots work. Instead, I focused on trying to place the feeling of unease that had entered my mind as I had returned home, the air felt like the calm before a storm, when it's charged with static electricity and you're waiting for the first thunderbolt, but the night sky beyond the windows was free from the tempest that had raged for most of the day and had now moved on to trouble the rest of the country.

No answer presented itself, so I abandoned the whole thing, stood, and followed the others into the dining room, rubbing my forearms distantly.

The girls had fallen quiet as the three males entered, watching the two organisers carry food to the table with amused looks; they had obviously been talking about us. Rei just studied us intently, as if there would be a test on our actions afterwards.

"Don't all offer to help at once," Kensuke muttered, wiping his hands on his trousers, Asuka rolled her eyes.

"She's here!" Toji hissed, suddenly bursting back into the room, "I saw her coming out of the lift with Shinji."

"Right! To your places people!" Asuka barked, suddenly on her feet and in command, "Tech, do it!"

I stared at her for a few seconds to show my independence, and then sauntered over to a panel I had loosened earlier, knelt down and disabled all lights in the apartment with a few twists of wiring, and then listened intently for the hiss of the front door.

Misato seemed to take longer to reach the apartment then usual, but in reality it was only a few seconds and soon I could hear her talking to Shinji.

"- You just care too much about what others think. That's all, nothing to be ashamed of- oh hell." There was the sound of her flicking light switches on and off, "They're doing that thing again, Tanus!" the last word was a shout,

"Misato, he would have fixed it if he was here." Shinji was the voice of reason in the darkness, and playing his role rather well I thought. "You know he never lets broken things lie, like that time he dismantled your laptop because you said the disc tray was sticking."

Footsteps drew closer, accompanied by Misato's voice, "Where could he have gone? He stays in most nights," there was a thud, along with a burst of Japanese swearing, apparently she had walked into the pile of boxes that contained the remnants of Asuka's belongings. I tensed, the sparking wires gripped in hand.

The divide from the corridor slid open and I immediately reattached the two wires, my night vision; forged after years of darkened tunnels and unreliable torches, allowed me to return them first try. The sudden cries of: " Congratulations Misato" drowned out my cursing as what felt like half the Japanese power grid raged through my fingers.

"Nice look Kiddo," Misato complimented my slightly spiky hairstyle when she grabbed me into a rough one-armed hug after her initial shock had faded, a gasping Shinji occupied the other armpit, "but I've a bruise the size of Lake Ashino on my knee due to your fiddling with the lights. So you'll get no sympathy from me."

"Awww, and here I was thinking you'll kiss my fingers better."

She gave my hair a playful ruffle with her hand, and then allowed the two of us to go free. I retreated a short distance with my friend as our guardian shared her good mood with the other conspirators. If Toji or Kensuke grinned any wider, the tops of their heads would fall off.

"Wow, you guys sure know how to throw a party." Misato told us all once she had finished; she sat herself at the head of the table and peered under the lid of a pizza box, "Thanks Toji."

Toji grinned, then shook his head, "I'd love to take the credit for this, but I'm afraid this was Kensuke's idea."

"That's right!" Kensuke yelled, jumping to his feet and standing to what he thought was attention, "I, Kensuke Aida, am the mastermind behind this party."

"Well then. thank you Mister Aida."

Kensuke saluted happily, causing to Asuka snort into her drink,

"That was the worst salute I've seen since the Tech's after that fiasco of a test earlier."

"Oh no, she's insulting my parade skill, my only weakness!" I gasped then fell to the floor, Rei stared at my prone form in confusion, "I regret I only have one life in which I can annoy!"

"Bury him up a tree." Misato suggested, taking a swig of her beer as I slumped back onto to the carpet,

"Why on earth would we do that?" I heard Hikari ask,

"I want everyone to look up to him."

"Arrest that woman." I ordered, pointing a finger at her as I regained my seat, "The Charges are telling awful jokes at a social gathering and disrespecting the dead. She's to be hung by the neck until sorry."

"_Verdammnt,_"Asuka leapt to her feet as the rest of us laughed, "Hanging out with these losers is driving me crazy! Why is Kaji so late?"

"Isn't he that cool-looking guy who never shaves?" Hikari asked, clutching Pen-pen to her chest dreamily, Asuka nodded.

"Yeah, after being with these dorks all day, it's nice to know what a real man is like."

I felt that the remark had been directed at me personally and swivelled my head round to stare at the flame-haired girl in surprise and annoyance. Toji beat me to the punch however.

"Real man? You wouldn't know a real man if he bit you on the nose!"

"Toji! Keep your pants on!" Kensuke was trying to divert the brewing dispute, but lacked my stature or Hikari's authority, so Toji ignored him. Besides, the class-rep had already sent back a retort that made him splutter. So he leapt to assist his friend in the rather one-sided argument.

Asuka made a scathing comment about our immaturity in comparison to her idol, and I was about to reply in no less angry tones, when I suddenly didn't care anymore. Let her have her twisted view of us, it wasn't worth fighting about.

Something shifted inside my mind as the two opposite genders dissolved into name-calling and threats, my offence at Asuka's remarks had dissipated with alarming suddenness and I had the vague feeling that the thoughts hadn't been my own. That was ridiculous of course, but the feeling persisted. I must be tired.

I glanced at Rei sat beside me at the table, to see what side of the struggle she was supporting, and noticed that she was helping herself to the food piled on plates, avoiding those that contained meat and examining each morsel she trapped in her chopsticks intently, like a scientist peering down a microscope, then popping it into her mouth and taking no notice of the other partygoers. She might have been dining alone.

The sudden ringing of the doorbell caused Asuka to emit a happy shriek that threw everyone off track and caused a wince to cut through the male guests, "That's got to be Kaji!"

Sure enough, Kaji slid open the door a few moments later, still wearing his NERV uniform and his confident smile, as if life was a grand joke and he was wondering why you hadn't got the punch line yet. I was surprised the officers allowed his little ponytail.

The real surprise, however, was when Ritsuko trailed in behind him, her civilian clothes making her appear a totality different woman, with a personality to match, she was all smiles this evening.

"I came as soon as I received the invitation." Kaji said to Misato with a friendly wave to the rest of us, "We just happened to bump into each other on the way."

"Yeah, right." Said Asuka and Misato in unison. I knew Asuka had a crush on Kaji, but her face mirrored Misato's, who claimed she hated the man, and that was unusual, if you took her claims seriously.

Ritsuko gave Major Katsuragi a deep bow before elbowing her way in between Rei and myself; Kaji was dragged to the chair beside Asuka.

"I guess I have to be polite to you, now that the commander's have both left Japan for a while." Kaji said as he sat down, giving Pen-pen a pat on the head. "They know that old Katsuragi is dependable enough to hold the fort."

"My Father's left Japan again?" Shinji said suddenly, looking crestfallen.

"He should be back within a few days or so," Ritsuko assured him, "They're at the South Pole."

Misato's mouth tightened slightly at the corners, barely noticeable in the wake of her disapproval of Kaji, and I felt uneasy at the news as well, Commander Ikari seemed to have a knack for being absent during a crisis.

"Cheer up," said Kaji, slapping me on the back, my thoughts must have shown on my face, "Everything will be fine while they're gone. Besides, it's you guys who are needed more. I don't see Commander Fuyutsuki standing up to the Angels."

Asuka's eyes lit up at the praise from her idol and I nodded thankfully to the older man, Shinji was speaking to Misato and didn't seem to hear, and Rei's eyes flashed briefly in his direction then returned to her plate without comment. I didn't expect any.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Hey tech, you in here?"

Asuka had a knack at making me jump, and this time was no exception, the involuntary flinch it caused knocked a box from its carefully arranged pile and spilt its contents across the bed I had re-assembled in my new bedroom. I wasn't in the best of moods anyway; memories were piled as high as the boxes.

"Yeah," I called back, giving the wooden frame a swift kick to test the strength "Give me a minute."

After the party to celebrate Misato's promotion a few days ago, it had lasted well into the night and left the adults too plastered to drive the younger guests home, we had been forced to bunk down on any available piece of floor or furniture. The mess in the living and dining rooms made them unfit for human habitation. Having Toji, Kensuke, Shinji and myself in a room designed for one person drove home the fact that I couldn't be expected to sleep on Shinji's bedroom floor forever, especially when I had an apartment in the same building waiting for me.

So I had taken the plunge and moved out of Misato's place and into my own, since then I had been organising and emptying the packing cases. Major Stonewall had sent over everything within the house's four walls with no consideration of the space I had at the other end. He probably thought of it as a test.

That "Brewing Storm" feeling had vanished earlier this morning, and I was still trying to decide if it was a good or bad thing. Keeping myself busy left no time to dwell on it.

I wove through the maze of cardboard containers that filled the most of the rooms towards the hallway where Shinji and Asuka where waiting, the latter had her head in an open box and was quite clearly rummaging.

"Anything important in there?" I asked her, gaining a small amount of satisfaction at the muffled yelp.

"Misato sent us to help you." Shinji replied; as Asuka pulled he head clear of the boxes, I grinned.

"Thanks. Major Stonewall went a little overboard." I jerked a thumb over my shoulder at the waiting piles; "I might just shove them into one of the spare rooms and forget about them."

"I told you that Japanese houses are too small." Asuka pointed out, brushing back her fringe, "lets just get this done. I have more important things to be doing with my time."

As if on cue, three mobile phones began to ring in unison, and the three of us exchanged worried glances.

"Why do you have to be right all the time." Shinji protested as we pulled them from our pockets.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The four pilots were reunited half an hour later in NERV headquarters' second briefing room, each of us standing apart and lost in our own thoughts, normal procedure would have had us on the surface, ready to engage. We never had time for pre-op briefings before. They were done on the fly as information came in.

But Misato had ordered us here once we had changed, saying she needed to ascertain the situation and would explain it to us once she got back.

I glanced at the door beside the main screen, currently it was showing a live video of the geo-front, and I watched the buildings of the city above sink into view and lock into place.

Flexing my shoulders helped relieve some of the tension, the tight material of my plugsuit mimicked the movement and caused the life-support machine on my chest to shift slightly, I hardly noticed it anymore.

Asuka was sat on one of the desks at the raised back end of the room, her arms folded and staring at the ceiling with an MP3 player clipped to her waist and the headphones in her ears, occasionally she would tap a foot in time with the music.

Rei had her little red book as always, and seemed quite undisturbed as she traced the text with a white-gloved finger, she was stood like a statue by the door.

Shinji seemed to be reassured by her outer calm at his seat near the front, he gave me a thumb up when he noticed my attention and I returned it with a grin. He had changed a lot since I had first met him.

I myself was halfway up the stairs to the little booth where the images on screen could be controlled; twirling my thumbs impatiently as I waited for my CO. Anything that took the Magi this long to figure out was a serious problem.

The door hissed open and Rei was immediately stood at attention and saluting Misato as she entered, Shinji and I mimicked her, Asuka pulled out an earphone.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, guys." The major said with a sigh, leaning on the lectern as Ritsuko joined us, " We've been trying to figure out a plan of action."

"What we know is that an Angel appeared in orbit over the Indian Ocean about thirty two minutes ago." Ritsuko explained, entering the control booth and entering commands, "This is it."

The view of the geo-front changed to a picture of a huge creature, looking oddly like an amoeba we had been shown in biology, but what was even more shocking was the sheer scale of it, helpfully supplied by a bar at the bottom of the snapshot.

An Evangelion would look ant-like underneath this monster, barley a gleam in the huge eye that occupied the centre. Asuka muttered a Germanic curse under her breath.

"Unfortunately due to electromagnetic inference generated by the Angel, we have been unable to track it, or make contact with any other branch of NERV," Ritsuko continued, "but we believe that it's planning to attack NERV headquarters by dropping like a living bomb."

"So we shoot it down before it gets here." Shinji suggested, "If you took this picture, we must be able to follow it with satellites."

"We have no weapons capable of attacking an Angel that stays in orbit," Misato told him, "add to that the angel destroyed the few satellites we had in that area, and that the positron cannon is at Matsushiro for upgrades, we're in quite a difficult situation.

"So our plan is to use all four Evangelions to intercept the target before it makes contact with headquarters."

There was shocked silence.

"Wait, you want us to catch it in our _hands_?" Asuka yelled in disbelief, picking up the careful wording a split second before I did.

"Yep," Misato nodded, "You'll spread your AT fields to their maximum spread and strength, forming an impenetrable net before the angel can hit the ground."

"What if the angel doesn't land where you think it will?" Shinji asked weakly.

"Then there'll be a little boom." Said Misato calmly,

"What if the Eva's can't handle the impact?" I asked, staring at the picture behind her.

"This whole area will become an extension of the pacific."

"What are the chances of success, ma'am?" Rei was as calm as a garden pond; I really admired that. Ritsuko was the one who answered her.

"Not great."

There was another pause, soon broken by Asuka.

"If we pull this off, it'll be a miracle." She said it under her breath in German but everyone in the silent room heard it, and the tone was unmistakeable.

"Miracles don't just happen, you have to make then happen." Misato replied with firm confidence.

"We have to be willing to sacrifice ourselves? Is that what you're saying?" Asuka was on her feet,

"They say that death in battle is the highest honour." I whispered in the suddenly quiet room, "Think about it, four lives for billions. That's a fair exchange."

"I'm sorry." Misato averted her eyes, "You can chose not to do it, and we can't force any of you."

None of us moved. The Major looked up and smiled,

"So you're all fine with that?"

We waited for her next nugget of information like statues. Only Shinji moved, bunching his right hand into a fist.

"The regulations say that in operations as high risk as this you're all supposed to write out a Will." She threw four folders onto the desk nearest her, "you have time to fill them out now if you wish."

Asuka snorted, "I'm not going to die, so I don't need to write one."

"Neither do I." Rei added, "There is no point to it."

I gave a nervous laugh, "I can't think of anyone I hate enough to unload all my crap onto."

"I won't bother either." Shinji agreed, I leaned down to give his shoulder a friendly punch,

"So we're all idiots." I said with a smile, "Glory or death, huh?"

Misato was staring up at us, her eyes shinning with unhidden pride.

"Thank you all," she paused as if considering something, "when all this is over I'll take you all out for dinner, How's that sound?"

"Really?" Shinji seemed amazed, "Wow."

"Dinner out with my best friend and three lovely ladies," I replied, with a grin worthy of Kaji. "How can I refuse?"

"I find it acceptable." Rei said after a moments thought, "However I dislike meat products, Major Katsuragi. So I may be unable to join you."

"You won't forget, right?" Asuka added excitedly, "I can't wait!"

"I promise." Misato gathered up the folders and dumped them into a wastepaper bin, "The magi are working on the final details of the operation, and it should only take a little while. Consider yourselves at liberty until then."

She left looking almost cheerful, with Ritsuko trailing after her, her face carefully impassive. We kept our happy smiles on until they were both well out of earshot.

"A fancy dinner is supposed to impress us?" Shinji muttered, slumping into his seat.

"The second Impact generation sure have cheap standards." Asuka replied, pulling open the control booth door and seating herself at the computer.

A web page appeared on the screen.

""Tokyo Three's Five-Star Restaurant Directory."" I translated with a chuckle, "that's how you're choosing to spend your free time? Looking up bank-busting eateries?"

"We might as well find out where she's going to take us." Asuka explained with a shrug, typing in restaurant names and checking the menus, I winced at the prices. "You're coming first child." It wasn't a question.

"I do not like large gatherings, Pilot Soryu." Rei answered calmly, "I believe I have mentioned this to you before."

"You just need to get out more." The other girl shot back, "It might even be fun."

"How much does Misato earn anyway?" Shinji asked, gazing at the prices in disbelief, "the prices they charge are ridiculous!"

"She should have thought of that before she promised." Asuka answered sternly, "We deserve the best after this."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

All too soon the three of us stood in the command centre, listening to Misato outline the final details of her plain and not meeting the other pilots' eyes.

"Due to the Angel's ECM jamming of our ground based outposts, the magi had difficulty narrowing down its final drop location, this is the smallest area we could calculate with wattle little data we had."

The main screen came to life, showing a huge red circle that encompassed Tokyo three and the surrounding mountains. I could only stare; Asuka was the one to put it into words.

"Are you serious? You call that a _small _area to cover?"

"Due to the huge size of the Angel and it's AT field, it could totally annihilate headquarters with a near miss," Ritsuko explained, with a cheerfulness I knew was forced, "We'll disperse the four of you evenly around the edges of this circle, you'll have plenty of time to intercept the target."

"What information is this dispersal based on?" Rei asked suddenly,

"A guess!" replied Misato, as if it was the most reliable information in the world.

"A guess?" Shinji, Asuka, and myself echoed weakly,

"Its woman's intuition." Misato barked.

"_Her_ woman's intuition," Asuka whispered to the rest of us, "looks like we won't be getting dinner tonight."

"She plays the lottery a lot." Shinji agreed, "She's yet to win."

"Thanks guys," I murmured, "That makes me feel much better."

"It's time." Ritsuko interrupted, "Go board your Eva's. Good luck."

Surprisingly, she saluted, as did Misato and the rest of the bridge crew, all of them standing up to show their respect, even though they were the senior officers.

I realised, after we had returned the salutes and had left for our respective Evas, that they probably didn't expect us to come back alive.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

It was Shinji who broke the silence of the lift as it head up towards the cages, normally Asuka would be boasting about how she was going to destroy the target.

"Asuka, why do you pilot your Eva?"

"To show the world how talented I am of course." She replied smugly,

"So, it's a way of proving that you exist?"

"I guess you could say that." Asuka shrugged, and then glanced at Rei and her voice took on a syrupy tone "Why don't you ask Wonder Girl?"

"I already have."

"My, my, so you've been having secret meetings? How intimate the two of you are!"

"No, it wasn't like that." Shinji was showing unusual calm today, "We talked about it a while back."

"Well then, why are _you_ here?" Asuka asked, nodding towards the distant machines, "Why do you pilot one of those?"

"I don't know." He replied simply, "I just do it."

Asuka pulled at her hair, "Arggh! You are so stupid! You must have a reason!"

"Maybe I just don't know it yet."

The second child sighed then turned to me, "What about you tech? Why are you risking your neck out there?"

I was lent on the back wall, my ID card in hand, and my eyes on the green giant opposite.

"The Angels murdered my father."

Asuka seemed shocked by the bluntness of my reply, opening and closing her mouth like a fish.

"At first it was just because I thought I had to," I explained, remembering the feelings I had experienced when Ritsuko had asked me to pilot all those months ago, "that I had been chosen because there was no-one else, but since I signed up, I learnt the truth about second impact, My father was at Antarctica when it happened." I shrugged, "Hell, I don't remember a thing about the guy, what with him dying before I was born, but the Angels took him away from me and my mother. Then God took her away from me too. Now pure, honest revenge is my driving force."

Silence returned, thick with unspoken questions, just as the lift reached the top and I stepped out onto the umbilical bridge without a word.

My Eva was waiting. I had a debt to settle.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

In contrast to my own mood, the presence of Unit Five seemed as cheerful as always as I waited in the mountains above Tokyo three, it still swirled around me as I checked its systems and peered through the early evening haze for my fellow Evangelions.

Unit one was opposite me, in the suburbs near lake Ashino. An uplink from the nearby command car allowed me to examine the Eva poised like an athlete at the starting blocks, the video link to its pilot showed Shinji sat with his head on his chest, probably grabbing a few more minutes of sleep while he could.

Zero stood against the skyline far to my right, the blue Eva staring skywards like its pilot, resolute, as always, I knew she would throw herself into the mission without fear. I hoped I could do the same.

Asuka was in the field south of me, standing at attention as she waited for the go-ahead for the operation, her headphones back in her ears, her eyes closed as she listened to the music and a confident smile on her face.

I took a deep breath and flexed my fingers on the throttles, allowing my mind to go blank for a few seconds as I treasured this calm before the storm.

Storm. That feeling I had before all this happened, did it have something to do with the massive creature that lurked somewhere over our heads? Could its arrival have affected the weather somehow? It was something to ask Ritsuko about later.

"I didn't take you as a religious type, Tech."

Asuka broke into my consciousness far more gently that usual, and I looked at the link to her entry plug questioningly, not understanding.

She smiled; nodded towards me, then make the sign of the crucifix across her chest, "You and your Eva just did it. I saw you."

Before I could answer, one of the command staff patched into the battle net, "Target had been sighted, distance: two thousand."

"We've confirmed that the target is starting its attack, all Units get on your marks." Misato ordered. "The magi will guide you until the angel is at an altitude of one thousand metres, after that I'm trusting your judgement."

"Here we go." Shinji whispered, sounding unnaturally loud in the silence,

"I'm ready." Rei replied,

"Lets do it." Asuka agreed with a nod

"Death or glory." I added.

My fear was gone, replaced with the unshakable calm I associated with combat and my faith in the Major. I didn't move until she spoke again,

"All Evangelions move to engage!"

I leapt forwards before the last words had left her mouth, umbilical cable detaching from my spine in a cloud of smoke, the Other Eva's had done the same and where already mobile.

My eyes where on the GPS map that had been placed onto my HUD, the red circle that represented the angel's final landing point was leaping back and forth across the city as the magi tried to plot its decent.

Unit Zero ran across my field of vision, and hurdled a building; engaging her pylon jets to gain a little extra height and landed on the other side as lightly as a cat. I went straight through it, pausing for a heartbeat on the other side in an expanding cloud of rubble and dust as I checked the Magi's reports before running after the distant blue Eva. She seemed to know where to run.

I could see the target now, its bloated mass pushing through the clouds, its sheer size made me think it was directly above my head, when in truth is was headed for Unit one.

Calculations whirled in my head; figuring out the distance I had to travel and comparing it to my top speed before presenting me with the fact I was too far away to intercept it. Shinji would have to hold it by himself for a few vital seconds.

"Spreading AT field!" he yelled and his flickering wall of energy flared between himself and the Angel directly above his head. That alone wouldn't stop something that large, and he pushed against the divide with his hands, bracing himself against the colossal weight as the rest of us closed the distance.

"Unit five, expand your field!" Rei ordered, I cursed. In my haste to close with the target I had forgotten a key element of the plan, I felt the energy build within my Eva's chest as the space between Unit one and myself shrank.

Four AT fields united at the same instant we all stood shoulder to shoulder on the hilltop, my Eva's enhanced strength helping take the burden from Shinji just as it forced him to his knees. One arm hung uselessly at his side.

I had expected the Angel to be heavy, but somehow it seemed to have more mass that it's body could hold and I could feel even my fibre-wire muscles that helped move the heavy armour plates burn out at the strain.

A glance at my fellow pilots showed that they were bearing the same weight, and warning symbols flashed into life across my HUD, reporting failures across my armoured skin as I forced my Eva to stand, taking the load on its shoulders for a short time, pushing the Angel back upwards. The presence reinforced my movements, siphoning away the pain in my arms and allowing me to stand fully upright, arms locked rigid skywards as they took the full strain. Despite my Eva's interference, the pain was immense.

"Do it now!" Shinji barked, once they had space, and unit zero slashed at the flickering wall between the Angel's core and us, pulling the gash open wide enough for Asuka to thrust her own blade deep into the fragile red sphere with a bellowed curse.

The angel's substance changed, suddenly it was as light as air, and had no form, collapsing on top of us like a sheet of wet canvas.

The explosion was huge; an invisible fist of immense power that smashed me to the heated bedrock like a child.

The walls of the plug went dark.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"_Verdammnt_, Trust him to fall asleep now. WAKE! UP! TECH!"

The rocking of the newly restarted train was soothing, but nothing on earth could keep someone asleep when an irate German girl screamed into their ear from only a few inches away.

I opened my eyes sleepily, and stretched, "accidentally" hitting Asuka in the face as I did so and grinned at the other occupants of the carriage.

"What? Are we there already?" I yawned, managing to doge Asuka's counter-attack, "I'll have the fish…"

With her physical attack thwarted, Asuka decided to use her normal approach, a verbal lashing, "No idiot, we trying to decide where Misato's going to take us for dinner."

The major grinned sheepishly, from where she was holding onto the handrail, "Yep, I pulled several large bills from my account so I can cover everything. Of course, now I'm broke until next payday, but you guys are worth it."

"It doesn't matter, I have found the perfect place." Asuka interrupted as the train slowed, "Just follow me."

I could feel Misato's heart hammer against her ribs as Asuka led us down a street packed with the most expensive places in the city, she was probably wondering how much she'd get for her Renault and how she was going to regret letting Asuka chose.

To my surprise and the relief of Misato's bank account, she stopped in front of a small ramen cart on the shore of Lake Ashino.

"Here we are." She announced, stopping us in our tracks, she couldn't be serious, "This is one of the best places in the city, and as there's no meat choices, the first Child can have some too."

She stepped towards the man behind the steaming tureens and placed her order, Rei following suit and Shinji nudging me forwards. Misato left with her purse intact.

I had to admit that Asuka was right, as we sat on a bench overlooking the moonlight waters, the food was good and best of all it was cheap enough that we could go back and have seconds, and in Misato's case, thirds, fourths and fifths.

"Misato," Shinji said as our guardian was consuming her sixth bowl, "I think I understand what you were saying about being praised by someone, when my father did it earlier. I think the reason I still fight is to hear those words from him."

I looked up from my food, memories of the de-briefing trickled though the haze of still being alive, and I grinned as I remembered the shock on everyone's faces when Commander Ikari had said, "Good work Shinji." It made me feel like the world had gone insane.

"Wait a sec," said Asuka slowly; leaning past Misato to glare at the boy, "That's why you pilot?"

Shinji only nodded, smiling faintly into his bowl.


	13. The Invisible Enemy

Chapter 13. Invisible Enemy.

Ritsuko Akagi wondered if she should take the time to tidy her office, she couldn't work amongst mountains of old paperwork, overflowing ashtrays and dirty coffee cups forever. They occupied almost every flat space in the room, those few pieces that escaped becoming a part of her "First Available Surface" filling system had cheap cat ornaments and random computer parts from the Magi gathering dust.

She lent back in her chair wearily, she would probably put off doing it again. She spent little time in here anyway, only when her twenty-hour day allowed her a break or when she needed to check on one of the datafiles that lurked deep beneath the papers..

Ritsuko drummed her fingers on the metal desk, her nails tap-dancing across the smooth surface, Ikari was always piling more projects on her, moving deadlines closer, reducing the amount of funds she had available, yet expecting her to finish them impeccably. It was infuriating.

Yet she did. Every time he added something she refined them as ordered. Even working through the night and weekends to ensure they were completed on time, on budget and working flawlessly.

Expect this one, she thought darkly, her eyes finding her latest task, the folder that had prime real estate beside her computer and had spilled its papers across the keyboard. This project refused to advance any further, no matter how hard she pushed it, nothing changed.

Ritsuko picked up the papers and shuffled through them, these were the only reaming copies of the developer's technical notes: four pages, only four pages out of an estimated hundreds. It would have helped if they where in some kind of order, but Murphy's Law had ensured that they were taken from different stages, some of which Ritsuko suspected had already been completed.

Ritsuko threw the file back onto the detritus of her desk. She had to admit that these papers had been useful for the Dummy plug development, and that the original author had truly been an expert of her field, but it burned her to have to count on that woman's files now to solve a problem _she_ created.

The suppression was easy; the project head had apparently suffered an attack of morality halfway through and locked it away behind formidable walls. It all came down to finding a way to travel through the maze she had built and re-attaching the old restraints.

The problem was that this maze made the one with Theseus and the Minotaur look like a stroll through a field in springtime, with a much worse beast in the centre.

It was starting to stir on its own, and she didn't have a way to contain it. If it broke free…

An update of the MAGI's latest maintenance echoed throughout the base, soon she would have to go to the command centre herself to oversee the final checks.

A loving daughter should take care of her mother in her old age.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

.Every NERV facility has something like a Pribnow box, a small, rarely used control centre that nevertheless was key to some of the more complex experiments. Given that NERV Headquarters and its satellite bases achieved huge scientific breakthroughs on a nearly daily basis, that was saying something.

The one in London looked almost identical, terminals lined up stepped rows, a small observation area for the project head and their staff to observe the experiment and a walkway dissecting the room to join it with the corridor outside.

As Ritsuko and her team of command personnel prepared for today's bizarre tests. As I wasn't taking direct part in them and without any instructions to the contrary, force of habit had cased me to take up station along one of the side windows with the other Orange Shirts. They saluted respectfully as I joined them, and then returned to the universal pastime of any military maintenance staff: Complaining.

"I wonder what they're going to push too far today?" a Tech whispered to the man next to him, "I hope it's not the main data trunk, that's a right bitch to replace."

"Just be glad we don't have to go near those." The other Orange Shirt nodded through the glass towards three dark shapes on the far wall, though the darkness I could just make out an arm hanging limply beside a much larger shape, thankfully lost in the murk.

"Okay, we're almost ready." Said Ritsuko, clapping her hands so the booth fell silent, "We just need to get the pilots in place, Lieutenant Harrab? Where is he?"

"Ma'am." I stepped out of the ranks of orange and saluted, close enough to her that I could smell the cigarette smoke on her breath.

"Good, you're already here." Ritsuko pushed back her fringe to mask her shock at my sudden appearance right beside her; I must be learning Officer's Stealth. "I suppose you're wondering why you're not taking a direct part in this harmonics test?"

"Not really ma'am, I'm fine with just watching."

"Sure you are." Said Misato playfully, she was the undisputed Mistress of Officer Stealth; not even Captain Jones had her skill, "Well, you'll regret that when you learn what Ritsuko has done to Rei and the others."

She dropped the name in casualty, but I ignored the bait and concentrated on the dark shapes on the other wall.

"What?" Asuka's protest at whatever Ritsuko was planning shrieked from the speakers in the ceiling, "You want me to take my clothes off again?"

"The next chamber is an Ultra-Clean room environment, simply taking a shower and changing your undergarments is insufficient."

"That's just stupid, why do I have to go through all this for a dumb auto pilot test while the Tech gets to sit around doing nothing?"

"With the passage of time comes the need for Eva technology to advance as well, to do so we need a constant influx of new data. This test is not needed for the Advanced Combat Model as it updates its own core data as the need arises. Now get undressed."

Ritsuko muttered something under her breath as a screen appeared on the glass in front of her; she tapped a symbol near the top and watched the three pillars of seventeen lights change from red to green. The nose coming through the speakers reminded me of a carwash in action. I made a mental note to avoid Asuka for a few days.

The screen flashed for a moment, and then vanished, the carwash was done.

"All right, I'm here just the way you wanted," Asuka snapped after a pause, "Butt naked and run through the decontamination cycle seventeen times. Now what?"

"Now I just need you to stay that way as you walk through the room and board the entry plugs."

"You can't be serious!"

"Don't worry, the video recorders have been shut off, we do respect your privacy."

"Ha! That's not the point even if it's true, this is a personal thing!"

"I'm not so comfortable with this either ma'am." Said Shinji carefully.

Ritsuko sighed, "This test is to monitor the harmonics directly from your bodies, without the interference from your plugsuits. A natural reading."

"This is what we in the military call an order." Misato added, "Get into your entry plugs."

"If you want, I could come down and get naked too, Asuka." I interjected with a grin, risking a severe beating from the girl later, "Just give me a minute to get oiled up."

"You're a disgusting, arrogant, per-." The link closed, amid quiet sniggers from various staff members.

"If you didn't provoke her so much, she wouldn't hit you quite so often." Misato remarked casually, picking a piece of lint off the elbow of her jacket "You just love to piss her off."

"You get better views when you live on the edge."

"But awful ones from a hospital ward."

"Ah. Good point. They really need to redecorate those."

Ritsuko's clap echoed around the room again, and drew all eyes to her, "They're ready, Start the test." She ordered Maya, immediately commands began to enter terminals and the far wall that the dark shapes occupied was suddenly lit from below, giving the huge, Eva scale torsos a menacing air until the ceiling lights engaged as well.

There were four of them, each with a number tattooed on their chests, and their arms hanging limp to where their hips had been replaced with wires and tubes.

Three cranes descended from a hatch above them, each inserting a white cylinder into the back of the simulation bodies, as Maya called them, all except the one at the end, that I assumed had been meant for my use. It looked oddly out of place as subtle signs of life began to show in the others, a slight flex of a finger, a twitch of a shoulder, the third one along began to twist its upper body slightly as the pilot had a look around.

Tubing and wires had also replaced their heads, but they still managed to give off an alert air, as if they were aware of the chamber around them and somehow alive themselves.

"How do you feel?" Ritsuko asked the pilots, moving an update screen away from her face with a wave of her hand.

"It feels quite odd." Said Rei, her voice calm but with a slight edge.

"Yeah, its different than all the other times." Shinji sounded sleepy, "Will we have to do this often?"

"Asuka, how about you?"

"Something's wrong with my senses, everything feels fuzzy apart from my right arm…" the third torso raised the limb experimentally, leaving a trail of bubbles. "Weird."

"Rei, try moving your right hand." Ritsuko ordered, the fingers of the first body bunched into a fist then back, "How's the data recording come along?"

"Nice and clear, ma'am." Maya replied, "All Simulation bodies have been connected to their respective Units."

"Good, return the Magi to normal mode, we should be able to monitor things for a while."

The Magi seemed to think differently; displaying their objection in a large black box that flickered back and forth between three colours as the computers argued over the best solution.

"Their creator certainly put their personality into those things, didn't she?" Ritsuko asked Misato distantly, not even bothering to check the screen.

"Weren't you the one who made them?" Misato replied, with a confused glance at the report.

Ritsuko snorted, glancing over her shoulder at her friend, "You really don't know much do you?"

"Huh, that's because _I_ actually tell my friends all about myself," Misato shot back, folding her arms defensibly, "Unlike _you_."

"No, I don't" The other woman agreed, turning back to watch the simulation bodies, "I only created the uplinks for the Evas, my mother made the actual mainframes."

A phone at her workstation trilled, Maya waited for the nod from her superior before answering it. The conversation lasted a few seconds.

"Another water leak?" Ritsuko asked the woman once she had returned the phone to its place,

"No, just a contamination warning in the protein level above this floor, Command wants us to be aware of it."

"Can it affect this test?"

"Not at the moment, ma'am. They'll keep an eye on it."

"Then we'll continue, complex experiments can't be cancelled for minor technical faults, Ikari would chew my ass off." She nodded at the Orange shirt Sergeant, who whispered to another tech, and then they both left the room.

"Data flow is sable." A tech said, as if there had been no interruption.

"Unit Zero's AT field is unfolding. Standby."

The piercing shriek of an alarm sounded alien in the calm control centre and I stared at the flashing red symbols on the glass in confusion, the day had just gotten more exciting.

"Give me a report!" Ritsuko barked, turning from the glass, "What's going on?"

"Contamination alert in sigma unit, floor Alpha, the spot Command warned us about. The eighty-seventh protein wall is corroding and releasing heat."

"I'm detecting an abnormality in sixth pipe as well, ma'am" Maya reported, "It's spreading fast."

"Immediate test abort," Her superior ordered, "stop all flow through that pipe!"

"Roger!"

"Test abort confirmed. Connections to simulation bodies have been severed."

"Pipe numbers sixty, thirty eight and thirty nine are all sealed."

"Corrosion present in six though forty two, I'm locking it down now."

"It's not good," Maya added; sweat beading on her forehead, "It's spreading along the walls now."

"Then we'll stop it here." Ritsuko seemed unfazed by this setback, "Deploy Polysomes, set their laser power at maximum, get every single particle."

"Warning, the corrosion has breached the sixth pipe though fifty eight. It's coming!"

All eyes in the booth turned to the thick white pipe that ran down the wall alongside the simulation bodies. The Polysomes had a vague resemblance to the UN's VTOLs, with their engines in swivelling pods either side of the main body. But that similarity ended with the bloated pear shaped chassis.

They emerged from their hangers, their searchlights locked onto the corrupted pipe and their weapons begin to glow red like angry eyes as the corrosion drew closer.

Nothing happened. The submarines drifted slightly in the current from the filtration system, and their weapons still glowed menacingly in the dark water, but the expected dissolving of the pipe's casing failed to materialize.

I glanced at Misato out of the corner of my eye, the corrosion's strange focus on reaching this chamber made me uneasy, and I wanted to see if my CO had similar thoughts. She noticed my gaze and shrugged; this was out of her field of expertise.

That was the moment Rei screamed.

It was a harrowing scream. A desperate cry of pain and fear, that in someone as calm and controlled as Rei was made even more unsettling.

Her simulation body was writhing against the wall, clawing at itself savagely and allowing thick red blood to cloud the water around it.

A huge fist flew through the murk and slammed into the both right in front of me, the thick glass dissolving into a network of cracks. I jumped backwards instinctively as it pulled back to deliver another blow.

Ritsuko had moved to her workstation and pulled at a handle amongst the screens and switches, severing the limb from the main body,

"It invading the active water system, Eject the entry plugs immediately!" she barked, "Use the lasers now!"

Three white cylinders leapt from within the clouds of blood and steam as the Polysomes went to work, the entry plugs disappearing back up the shaft they had been lowered down like ICBMs launched from a submarine. The severed limb bounced from the glass in front of my face, the fingers still twiching.

The sixth pipe now looked like it had been left at the bottom of some sea for centuries, flakes of rusted metal breaking off as the pressure within built up, revealing a small hole.

A laser shot through the gap and bounced off a flickering orange wall.

"That's an AT field!" Misato shouted in disbelief,

"I should have seen it," I added angrily, as strange growths appeared on the simulation Eva's, ignoring the beams of the Polysomes. "It was too single minded to just be a protein build up. Corrosion just spreads, it doesn't have targets!"

"Patten is blue, ID confirmed. An Angel." Ritsuko spat from where she was seated at her computer, "damn it."

Misato snatched up Ritsuko's phone and stared to speak into it in rapid Japanese, then she threw it to the floor.

"We're locking down sigma unit!" she told the uncertain personnel, "Abandon the box!"

Techs grabbed files and fled down the corridor towards safety, Misato and I had to pull Ritsuko by the shoulder as the cracks spread across the weakened glass. The door slammed shut just as the water broke through.

"Isolating Sigma Unit from B floor," The PA announced, in the warble of synthesized speech, "All Personnel evacuate immediately."

Emergency bulkheads locked into place at our heels as we ran, and the lights flickered to the back up red as the power was diverted to other parts of the base.

"Well?" I panted, once we halted in the relative safety of central dogma, "What do we do now the Angel's inside the base?"

"We do what we always do. We'll find a way to kill it" Misato replied, her breathing normal and un-laboured. I marvelled at her stamina, Ritsuko was coughing her lungs out, I could barley draw breath but my guardian had taken a two hundred yard sprint in her stride.

Then another strange thing happened in a day full of strange events. The alarm cut out and normal lighting returned.

"It can't be over already can it?"

"I don't think so," Misato replied, helping Ritsuko to stand, "Come on you, let's get to the command centre."

"Should I get Unit five ready ma'am?"

"No." Ritsuko gasped, her breathing coming easier now, "Sending it out alone would only lead to its destruction. You'd best stay with us."

Automatically I glanced at Misato for confirmation, she nodded, and I fell in behind the two women at a respectful distance.

"How can we defeat this Angel without using Evas?" Misato asked, "The Polysomes did nothing."

"All of The angel's encountered thus far have weaknesses, I'll have the magi analyse this one and find it. Then we'll send in the Evas."

"I hope it goes as easily as you make it out to be."

"So do I, Misato."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Once more I was reduced from combat pilot to assistant and errand boy in NERV's central command centre while techs and command personnel actually did something to try and contain the intruder inside sigma unit.

The main screen was occupied by a live camera feed from one of the Polysomes, the Angel had ignored them as it gained a foothold inside our headquarters, only quick reactions by the command staff had prevented it from progressing further.

Below the MAGI were using the base's security systems to gently probe the Angel, while up on my level Ritsuko was browsing through its results and suggestions. She tapped Maya on the shoulder and pointed at a spot on the screen.

"Look at this, on the border between the normal and heavy water in the Pribnow box, there's a higher oxygen content."

"Yeah, their preference is pretty obvious. The area where ozone is used to maintain aseptic conditions is free from contamination."

"Does that mean their weakness is ozone?" Misato asked hopefully,

"It would seem so," Ritsuko smiled, "Pump more ozone into the Pribnow box."

"Yes ma'am." Hyuga replied, his hands moving over his keyboard. "Ozone levels increasing."

"Are you sure this will work doctor?" Commander Fuyutsuki called from his place beside Commander Ikari.

"It's working alright." Said Aoba excitedly, "The growths on unit 1a and 2a are shrinking."

"The central growth is proving to be more resistant." Hyuga added, "I'm injecting more ozone."

Silence fell on the command centre, all eyes on the screen as the glowing orange growths began to fade and dissipate on the currents within the enclosed water.

Ritsuko frowned, staring at the Angel that had infested Rei's simulation body; it seemed to be getting larger.

"Oh no." She whispered.

"Something's wrong, heat levels are rising again" Aoba informed the rest of us, "The Angel's spreading into the heavy water zones."

"Its absorbing the Ozone," Hyuga cursed, "Its changed its resistance."

"The Ozone's not working anymore, ma'am."

"Stop the ozone immediately," Ritsuko ordered, "Get me a biological scan of the central growth."

The main screen changed, tiny multi legged things were changing shape as the air bubbles came into contact with them, and multiplying like bacteria.

"Amazing," Ritsuko breathed, "Its actually evolving before our very eyes."

Then the screen cut out and the alarm screamed back into life.

"What's going on?" Misato demanded,

"Someone's hacking into the sub computer," Hyuga said, "Damn, they're coming in C mode, and we can't stop them. As if we didn't have enough to worry about."

"I'm running a back trace," Aoba told him, "Delay them for just a little longer."

"I've opened a decoy entry," a tech on the lower level yelled up, "They just cut straight through."

"Ten seconds until trace is completed."

"Spreading barrier, negative, its been breached."

"Open another false entry."

"Decoy entry has been aborted."

"No human is capable of this."

"Trace completed, the hackers in this building, under B wing, in the Pribnow box?"

"How is that possible?" Misato asked, I could sense her anger rising, she was as helpless as I was, and liked it even less.

"The optical pattern of the growths has changed." Maya replied, "It's a network of electronic circuits, a biological computer!"

"Cut the main data cable." Misato ordered,

"Negative ma'am, it refused to accept the command."

"Then use the lasers, burn it off!"

"Its generating an AT field, the Polysomes had no effect."

My hands bunched into fists, I had never felt more useless. I could board my Eva, it had been left in its cage when the others were sent to the surface, but I had no way to fight the angel, even if I could get there.

"The Angel's hacking into the security system, its cracking the password, twelve digit, sixteenth digit, it's in!"

"Its calculation speed is incredible!"

"It's broken into the main data archives, it's reading all the files! We can't stop it! It's got all our codes!"

"What's it looking for? Is it showing any pattern in the files it opens?" Fuyutsuki yelled down

"It looks like its going after the magi, sir!"

On the main screen, the little columns of file names changed from a healthily green to a dark, foreboding red. Only a few thin lines speared the Angel from Melchior's vulnerable CPU.

"Shut down the IO system." Commander Ikari ordered, the first words he had spoken. Hyuga and Aoba glanced at each other, and then pulled two identical keys from their belts. They were quickly inserted into two slots below their desks.

"I'd hoped I'd never have to use this." Aoba muttered.

"System shut down in three, two one."

The keys turned. There was a thud. But the alarm kept shrieking. Both men glanced at each other in disbelief, and then started typing commands desperately into their terminals.

"We can't shut it down! It's locked us out!"

The last green line flickered slightly; resisting the incursion, then fell like the others. I wasn't surprised.

"Its made contact with the Melchior." Maya added fearfully, "It's being taken over."

"Artificial Intelligence Melchior has submitted an order to independently self-destruct." The PA announced in its false voice, causing a gasp of horror from all in the room.

The screen changed to the Magi dilemma screen from the Pribnow box, the two computers still on our side briefly arguing with the corrupted one, then dismissing the order as illogical.

"Overruled." Said the PA to our momentarily relief, "Self-destruct can only be initiated once all three AI consent."

The Angel must have been probing the system's methods as thin tendrils of red started to creep from Melchior to Balthasar, the green changing to blue and small sectors within it flashed between the two colours, Balthasar was resisting the Angel using support by the other safe computer, Casper, but still the infection spread further.

"Change the logic mode!" Ritsuko barked suddenly, "Change synchronisation code to every fifteen seconds!"

That was all so much jargon to me, but when Hyuga typed it into his terminal, the tendrils froze, leaving a few sectors flashing on and off slowly.

There was a shared sigh of relief from the command staff.

"Well done doctor," Fuyutsuki praised, "How long will it hold?"

"Considering the speed it had taken over the first magi; only two hours, at best." Ritsuko replied, not looking up at him.

"The MAGI are now our enemy." Commander Ikari announced in a deadpan voice. "To think out most trusted ally would turn on us now."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Commander Ikari stared down at the photographs and scans of the Infested Pribnow box Doctor Akagi had managed to scrape together, with a detached calm that was alone amongst the agitation of his subordinates.

All but one, He raised his head to examine the culprit as the Doctor explained the nature of the foe to the assembled command staff.

The forth child stood to the right and slightly behind Major Katsuragi. Unusually tall, and with a well-defined musculature visible under the sleeves of his Orange Uniform, you would assume that he was older than his fourteen years,

Commander Ikari knew never to take anything at face value, the boy looked relaxed, stood at ease behind his CO, but he was tensed for combat, his eyes shining like drawn swords as they fell upon the photos of the Angel.

That anger could be useful, and he filed that nugget of information away for later examination.

"I understand," said Fuyutsuki, once Doctor Akagi had fallen silent, "Its this Angel's survival mechanism; Total Adaptability."

"The only effective counter measure for a parasite that continually evolves to overcome its own weaknesses is to eliminate the host." Misato interrupted, "Therefore commander, I suggest the physical destruction of the Magi by transporting them to the Geo-front and having Unit Five crush them, Tanus get ready."

"Belay that!" Ritsuko snapped, causing the forth child to freeze uncertainly, "If you destroy the magi, you destroy headquarters itself. We'd have no way to coordinate a defence against further Angel attacks. It's a stupid short term solution."

"That's my recommendation as director of operations," The Major retorted angrily, "I have faith in my pilots!"

"You're out of line! Matters concerning Evangelion and MAGI systems fall under _my_ jurisdiction."

"Why are you being so mule headed?" The major shot back, "If you reject my idea, help me come up with a better one!"

"This whole mess is a result of my carelessness," Ritsuko was suddenly ashamed, "therefore the burden is mine."

"Then let me share it," Katsuragi's tone was much gentler now, "You can't take every little mistake on your own shoulders like this."

Ritsuko seemed to ignore her friend's advice and examined the photos again, "As long as this Angel keeps evolving, we have a chance."

"By controlling it's evolution?" Commander Ikari suggested, "All evolutionary paths eventually lead to self-destruction, death itself."

"We'll set it up so that absorbing the MAGI brings it to an evolutionary dead-end." Fuyutsuki said, his arms folded,

"If the Angel believes that it is the only course of survival, it may choose to co-exist with the Magi." Ritsuko agreed,

"But how will we do that?" Hyuga asked.

"Since this Angel is now a kind of computer, we can counter-hack and upload a virus, but to do that we need to lower Casper's defensive barriers."

"But if Casper is faster than the Angel, we will succeed." The Commander Ikari told the assembled personnel, "I leave this task in your capable hands, Doctor Akagi."

"Thank you sir." The woman replied,

"This Virus, can you get it ready in time?" Misato asked, glaring at the main screen, "If Casper is taken over first, it'll be the end of us all."

Ritsuko then pulled her glasses from her breast pocket and pulled them on, "I keep my promises."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The command centre had been evacuated of all personnel not needed for Ritsuko's plan, and its resulting silence as she prepared to enter the guts of the only uninfected computer made me uneasy. I was only here because I had some experience in computer repair and Misato's insistence I stayed close.

Ritsuko lifted a small panel from the floor around the Super computer and turned a key she had taken from a pocket, the huge computer began to rise up in the air, revealing that, like an iceberg, there was far more beneath the surface.

It rose to three times its normal height then came to a halt with a thud revealing a small hatch at floor level; Their caretaker pulled it open with ease and crawled inside.

I hunkered down beside to opening and tried to see into the opening without bothering Misato and Maya Ibuki who also peered inside, they both outranked me and I wasn't looking for any more trouble today.

The interior was littered with post-it notes; they clung to every flat surface and had Kanji grouped so tightly together on each that I couldn't translate. Maya however gave a delighted sequel.

"They're codes, the magi's secret codes! Original designs, access codes, back doors, this'll make our programming go much faster. Right ma'am?"

Ritsuko turned in the narrow space and nodded,

"These are the developers technical notes, keeping them here seemed logical as she had to work on them regularly."

"Am I allowed to see these?" Maya asked meekly, "I only have level six clearance..."

"I think, due to the circumstances and the fact you are my assistant in such matters, the command level restriction can be lifted for now."

"Thank you ma'am, I'll get to work right away."

She turned and quickly ran to gather the needed equipment; Misato watched her go with an amused smile,

"She enjoys her job, that's for sure."

"Major, I need you to help me with a few things."

"What should I do ma'am?" I asked as Misato disappeared into the confined space with muffled swearing as her head collided with the tunnel roof.

"Throw in your tool belt, and any equipment Maya gives you. But stay close, I may need your help with a few things."

I unbuckled the harness I wore out of habit and threw it into the darkness, Maya returned, pushing a trolley piled high with wires and computer boards and the work to save the magi started in earnest.

It was simple enough, Ritsuko and her assistant handled the hard parts, the tasks I was assigned harkened back to the days before all this trouble had been heaped on my shoulders, and I could just lose myself within the work that had been almost all I ever did.

"So why don't you tell us about the Magi?" Misato asked her friend after a while; I surfaced from my work to find myself within the tunnel itself, I had acquired an orange shirt headpiece from somewhere, the flashlight and radio gear was a familiar weight on one side of my head.

"It's a long story," Ritsuko replied, adjusting her posture as she removed a heavy piece of Casper's internal organs and passed it to me, I carried it back out into the light of the command centre and placed it beside where Maya had sat herself on the trolley and was typing into a computer board, I heard the doctor continue from where she was still entombed by the huge computer, "It has a lot to do with the Personality Transplant OS, are you familiar with it?"

"Yeah, it allows a seventh generation computer to be given a human-like personality, allowing it to think for itself and solve problems without human input, The Eva's run on the same OS."

"That's right." Ritsuko sounded like a teacher who'd just heard a very clever answer from a pupil they had previously thought was an idiot, "The MAGI used the personality of the first test subject, and as my mother had developed the system…"

I took a screwdriver from my belt and stared to remove the casing of the part I had just lugged out and examined the interior, while behind me the discussion continued, echoing slightly in the empty command centre.

"Wait, are you saying that it was her personality that was transplanted?"

The command centre was truly silent now, Maya and I had stopped what we were doing and where listening intently to our COs. I was still wondering about the Evas' OS, who had been copied into mine? And what of the other Units, who had they been?

"More or less." Ritsuko said calmly, "Although it is impossible for us to digitise a human mind and soul, you could say that the MAGI's brains _are_ my mother."

The sound of something heavy striking metal jerked Maya and myself back into life, her typing resumed at its blistering pace, and I reattached the casing of the object I had been given, satisfied that its internal components were in good condition.

"Is that why you want to protect the Magi?" Misato asked softly,

"No, it's not that. I never really liked my mother; the decision to protect her work was made as a scientist-."

The alarm, silenced these past two hours, started to shriek its warnings again. The main screen now showed two red MAGI CPU's and Maya's typing took on a desperate edge.

"Balthasar has fallen, the Angel is hacking into Casper!" Hyuga yelled from the level above and I leapt to my feet as red tendrils started to probe into Casper's unprotected core.

"Its faster than us." Fuyutsuki muttered, leaning on Aboba's shoulder to read his screen.

"Its fast alright," he agreed, "I hope Doctor Akagi is faster."

"It's started?" Misato asked, appearing at the opening of Casper's interior, I couldn't answer, I was shaking with rage.

"_It hurts my friends, it threatens to destroy my home, and it tries to kill me." _My hands were bunched into fists as I glared up at the screen, _"You're going to die, Angel. I'll make sure of it."_

"Casper will be taken over in fifteen seconds!"

"Self destruct will occur once all three Magi consent." The PA said suddenly, " T-minus sixteen seconds until special order Two-Five-Five is activated."

"Ritsuko, hurry!"

"I'm nearly done! Just give me another two seconds!"

"We don't _have_ two seconds!"

I watched helplessly as the final sectors of Casper put up a valiant fight against the wall of red that threatened to engulf them. Two more vanished, leaving one blue square surrounded by red. Then a small line appeared alongside the stricken computer, connecting the lone sector to a small cluster of the healthy green, overlaid by a number five and titled: "Unit Five Combat Data Processor."

The new sectors where quickly consumed by the angel, but their arrival had diverted it from Casper for a split second

But that second was all that was needed, the doctor and Maya hitting the execute button on her keyboard at the same instant.

The corruption froze, the lone sector flickering in its cocoon of red, and then the whole screen was washed clean by a tide of green squares. The uplink was cleaned then disengaged.

"Special command Two-Five-Five has been cancelled. Self-destruct: Cancelled. Magi emergency shutdown engaged."

No one moved. We all stared up at the screen in disbelief, not even daring to breathe.

Someone swore. The single word bounced around the command centre a few times before being swallowed by the silence. Then the cheering started, Hyuga and Aoba punching the air while commander Fuyutsuki sagged with relief, Maya was wearing a proud smile and I helped Misato pull an exhausted Ritsuko out of the computer tunnel.

"Sigma unit has been released from lockdown, Magi will reactivate in twenty seconds." The PA continued over the commotion, "All personnel stand down from Alert Status."

"I must be getting old," the woman remarked as she collapsed into a nearby chair, "These all-nighters are really rough."

"Maybe, but you kept your promise again." Misato had obtained four cups of coffee from somewhere, and handed them around.

I laughed as I accepted the hot drink, the tension and fear exiting my body as a manic chuckle, I would have laughed at anything.

Ritsuko drained her mug with every sign of enjoyment, which was worrying. Like all of the Major's culinary inventions, there were risks involved. Her coffee would definitely keep you alert for the foreseeable future, but it was also a very good paint thinner.

"Before she died, my mother told me that the Magi were the three aspects of her life," Ritsuko announced suddenly, gazing into her empty cup, "Herself as a scientist, herself as a mother, and herself as a woman. All three are fighting for dominance inside the computers. Mother deliberately encoded the dilemmas of human existence into them while keep each different as well."

She pushed her fringe away from her face and stared up at the huge computer that still towered over us before continuing,

"I don't think I'm the kind of woman who'll ever have children of my own, so being a mother is an unknown to me. But I did respect her as a scientist. When it came to her being a woman, however, I hated her."

I swirled my coffee around in its cup distantly, while marvelling at the sheer complexity of these three computers.

"You're rather talkative today." Misato said accusingly, "Well, about some things anyway."

"It's the coffee," I answered, "The caffeine has hotwired her brain."

I picked up my tool belt and jacket then drained the syrupy gunk from the bottom of my cup, the extra energy helping keep my own exhaustion at bay for a little while longer. Beside us, Casper began to sink back into its proper place again, the four of us watching it with interest while Ritsuko explained a little more about them.

"The personality inside Casper was that of my mother as a woman, how fitting that it remained unyielding until the last second, very much like my mother would have done."

"She sounds- sounded like a very strong minded person." Maya remarked, "I would have liked to have met her."

"Well, you should know her well," Ritsuko said as she stood, "You work with her everyday."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	14. Throne of the Soul

Chapter 14: Throne of the Soul.

"The old men can be so inconvenient at times, demanding a report of NERV's recent engagements at this point in the endeavour, rather than simply waiting for the end of the war when we can make a more accurate report."

"You mean edit it so it fits their precious schedule."

"Fuyutsuki, you know the penalties for lying to the committee."

"So do you. When has it stopped us?"

"Quite. Levity aside, the recent invasion has occurred far out of sync with the script outlined in the Dead Sea Scrolls. How should we address that issue without panicking them?"

"Simple. We deny it ever happened. Their eyes in this facility see what we show them. That, along with their belief in their own infallibility, will ensure that they'll accept our word that we detected and combated the eleventh Angel outside the geo front. It's a simple matter to edit the Evas' data recorders."

"I see that you still have some of your old cunning, Fuyutsuki."

"Heh, I passed cunning a long time ago, I'm into artful now."

"So I gathered."

"By the way, I have some information about that last activation of Unit five during the "incident". Doctor Akagi told me that the Angel had only activated the data link up when it was rampaging through our systems, the core was untouched. There were no indications that it had even gone near it."

"Tell her to check it again. The last thing we need is for an accident to force our Trump Card into play too soon."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

History Teachers must have a one-track mind implanted as soon as they took up the job, or something that allowed them to enter their own world when discussing the events that occurred after second impact. One of the wars that they were so found of describing could have been waged inside the classroom without comment from the old man who took our classes. But he did know his subject.

Hikari was sat rigidly at her desk and was apparently absorbing every word, sparing brief disapproving glances at the rest of us, and Rei was watching the distant city with her usual intensity. The others had all sunk into the stupor that the heat and monotone voice produced; Toji was actually asleep and snoring like a chainsaw encountering a rusty nail in an ancient oak, while Kensuke was probably still trying to break into NERV's data files, although he had not succeeded yet, It was a testament to his skill that he hadn't been caught. Shinji was sat at his desk to my left and two in front, seemingly writing notes, but I could see the thin wire of his headphones snaking from under the desk to his ear. Beside me, Asuka was making no such efforts to hide her boredom, balancing a pen on her index finger while leaning back in her chair at staring at the ceiling. The laptop on her desk had entered standby while waiting in vain for her to start typing.

"… And due to the recent economic collapse, the communists managed to seize power in Moscow, abolished their government, and proceeded to rebuild their armed forces. Their objectives, however, were not to just reclaim their lost satellite states. Instead, they envisioned an empire that stretched across the entire continent…. "

"This is stupid," Asuka whispered to me, leaning across the gap, "Why should we care what some foreign government did years ago?"

"In case they try to do something like it again now?" I suggested, also in a low voice, sometimes our teacher emerged from his lecture to catch a student doing what they shouldn't, so I was taking no chances, "Russia's economy's been in shambles for years, they could try and invade Europe again. We only mangled to stop their advance on the German border last time."

"Yeah," said Toji, who had apparently woken up, and never missed a chance to taunt her, "If you'd failed you could have been a communist German woman, with even better facial hair then you have now-"

Asuka's casual, backhanded slap knocked him from his seat with a crack that made the other students turn in their seats, glance at each other uncertainly, then edge their chairs away from the fallen boy. Her rages tended to spread.

"Idiot." She muttered, scooping up her fallen pen, I watched her warily; alert for any sudden movement, "I don't know what Hikari sees in him…"

She fell silent, ballpoint standing perfectly still on her fingertip, and I returned to my exercise book, where I had been sketching Unit five. I felt I should try and rekindle my old painting hobby now that Ritsuko had lessened up on my extra training.

Nothing could stop her replacing the tests I already had with more and more bizarre ones, however, immediately after this lesson was one Misato was calling, "an Eva swap-shop." Apparently Ritsuko wanted to mix up the Eva's and their pilots to see what would happen.

I frowned as I completed the shadow between Unit Five's "helmet" and its chest piece, my mind reviving the old mystery of whom the presence was. How would Unit five react if Shinji took the controls? Or Rei? It had given me its trust, respect and protection easily enough, but I had the impression that it wouldn't give them to just anyone.

_The launcher kicked against my shoulder as it sent a missile speeding towards the target, its built in computer correcting the inaccuracies of my snap shot, and the particle beam came the other way. _

_Time slowed as the beam came straight towards my face and I cringed, knowing it was too late to evade it and expecting to feel the flimsy armour that covered my Eva's neck and face melt away like ice before I was turned into to a wisp of vapour by the unimaginable heat._

_The presence howled defiance inside my mind and I felt the Eva twist slightly away from the shot, too slowly to doge it entirely, but ensuing that it hit my weapon instead, reducing it to molten metal and detonating the missiles that remained in the magazine._

My pencil tapped _"fly me to the moon"_ on the edge of my desk and I stilled it with a grimace, my mother had loved that song and I realised that only a few days separated today from the seven-year anniversary of her death. Strange how the date always snuck up on me, this would be the first year I couldn't visit her grave.

The school bell banished those dark thoughts with the momentary relief of another school day over, and the ritual of bowing to the departing teacher was second nature to me now. I guess you could get used to anything given enough time.

"Now we just need to get through another or Doctor Akagi's tests," Shinji told me on our way down to the reception, "I hope I don't get ejected again."

I gave a chuckle, "For a safety system, it doesn't put much focus on comfort, I remember being thrown against the control panel that time I had to."

Shinji grinned as we reached the ground floor, "Yeah, you always are complaining about the bandages you wear afterwards."

I touched the scar beneath my right eye distantly, "So would you if Ritsuko forced that damn ointment onto every little scratch you get."

"Maybe if you left the fighting to the pros, you wouldn't get so beat up." Asuka suggested as she glided past.

"Good idea," I called after her, "Let me know if you find one, okay?"

Thankfully her reply was inaudible.

"Strange that a girl her age curses so much." Shinji commented, once he was certain that she was out of earshot. Asuka may not bother trying to slap me anymore, my reflexes had grown too sharp for that, but her arguments with him could often be heard in my apartment though the ceiling.

"Must have something to do with military life," I suggested, following him out into the scorching heat of the afternoon, and placing my hands behind my head, "I curse like a drunken sailor."

"The Dragon almost takes the appeal out of being an Eva pilot." Kensuke cut in, ducking under my elbow to walk between Shinji and myself, "Does she scream at the enemy until they explode?"

"Nah, that'll be against UN laws." Toji added, appearing on Shinji's other side, "WMDs and all that. She's probably just a meat shield."

I examined Kensuke out of the corner of my eye as we walked; Shinji's military-loving friend still lived under the illusion that piloting Eva was like an anime show, with the hero returning from every fight untouched after destroying hundreds of enemies single-handed. Not even the bandages I was sometimes forced to wear to school couldn't shatter his focus.

"You guys are so lucky." He said, further proving my unspoken point, "living with a hottie like Misato and piloting such powerful machines. You've got to get me signed up; I could be a back up pilot, take over if one of you guys needs a break, you know? Come on, I know you have some pull with the top brass."

"No we don't." I reminded him sharply for the hundredth time, "We hardly see the commander most days, let alone have the chance to strike up a friendship with him, let it go."

Kensuke ignored me, my attempts to make him realise the dangers of piloting had fallen on deaf ears, resulting in him and Toji no longer thinking of me as a friend, at best our attitudes towards each other was neutral, only prevented from full-scale hostilities by our shared friendship with Shinji.

I sighed in resignation, gave my friend a nod, which he returned, and quickened my step to leave the three of them behind, preferring solitude to their company. Toji always made my fists itch.

My thoughts drifted back to my Eva as I pulled on my headphones from my Walkman, the mystery of the presence inside it was frequently turned over in my mind when nothing else presented itself. I was certain I knew the answer, but somehow it always remained just out of reach, driving me mad in the early hours of the morning with its stubborn refusal to be solved.

Asuka and Hikari were walking just ahead of me, chattering away at such a speed I was surprised their jaws could stand it, neither of them sparing me a glance as I weaved past them.

I had slipped back into the way of life I had made while growing up, back to being alone in a crowd.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The start up procedure for Unit One was little different from the norm, except it felt strange to have its pilot stood next to me in the control room while the Eva beyond the thick glass gave the tell-tale signs of awakening that I had become accustomed to in the long months since I had given Ritsuko that nod in Major Stonewall's office.

Misato was strangely absent from her usual spot at Hyuga's right shoulder, and Ritsuko herself was darting between the terminal's checking readings, and ensure each man or woman knew exactly what she expected of them for the relatively short time the machine would be "awake."

I stepped towards the smaller boy and gave him a gentle nudge to get his attention; he seemed rather distant since Rei had been chosen to take his place at the controls.

"How do you feel about this?" I asked him in a soft voice, nodding towards the purple giant.

"I'm fine with it." he stared back, looking confused, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, its just that-, never mind." I sighed and checked the fit of my neural clips, Asuka had called them Ho-Hos for a reason she kept to herself, "Some of us are rather possessive of their Units."

Asuka frowned on the link from her entry plug, clearly wondering if I had buried an insult in that casual comment then shrugged and returned to staring at nothing, her fingers tapping irritably on her controls. The dragon seemed to be sleeping.

"You got lucky there, kid," said Misato from my left, Major's stealth prevailing over my Officer Detection yet again, "She had reason to gut you like Pen-Pen's breakfast for that."

She grinned at my sudden uncertainty; the realisation that the second child could be keeping a tally for later repayment crossed my mind, and sauntered over to her friend.

"Hey Ritsuko, are we ready to go?"

"Almost," the other woman replied, pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose, and standing up from Maya's screen, "As we've never before tried this, except in simulations, I think its best that we have back up plans in place. Until we know what we're dealing with, we're going to run the two tests in sequence rather than concurrently."

I resisted the urge to fiddle with my ID card, only Shinji and Rei would be undergoing the swap, Asuka and myself would just have normal harmonics tests. The only reason I wasn't already in my plug was that removal of Unit Five's Targeting Computers was necessary and took time, although the armoury personnel were getting faster.

The horned beast's eyes opened in a flash, causing an intake of breath amongst the majority of the room's occupants, the mighty machine suddenly radiating alertness and menace straight from activation, unlike Unit five. My machine needed a few seconds to orient it. Perhaps it had something to do with sync ratios.

"Armoury To Akagi." The speakers broke through the bustle with ease, "We've finished our work on Unit Five and have placed it in simulation cage two as per you orders. Armoury out."

I looked over towards where Ritsuko was fiddling with a tech console, receiving a dismissive wave from the woman in question, her attention focused on the screen before her. Misato rolled her eyes and gave me a confirming nod.

As I turned to go, walking unhurriedly towards the door, I clasped my hand on Shinji's shoulder, wishing him luck in this risky experiment. If there was one thing I knew about these war machines, it was that Evas never gave up their secrets willingly. Unit Five still pushed me away from certain areas with apparent ease, then spend the rest of the experiment sulking, resulting in a sync score drop. Obviously its trust was a fragile thing.

My Unit activated without problems as usual, and I soon settled into the semi-trance that I found was the best way to deal with these long and dull tests. Falling asleep meant having Ritsuko tear strips off you for wasting time.

"Unit one and First Child capability test complete." Ritsuko announced over the command freq, the walls of my plug had steeled to give me an excellent view of white tiles. "Rei, you can get out now. Transfer the Unit back to its cage and bring in Zero."

"Yes ma'am."

"Unit Five activated, Data recorder online. Sync and harmonics increasing."

"Unit Two, half hour SITREP." A tech added, "All circuits in sync. Pilot Status normal. No problems to report."

"Of course I'm normal," I heard Asuka mutter to herself once the link had closed, "I haven't done anything. Yet they're always treating _him_ like he's made of porcelain or something. They should have finished working on that useless wreck and dismantled it years ago…"

I found myself nodding in agreement, my own thoughts had been running along similar lines, Unit Five and Two were supposed to be the ones designed for actual combat, with Zero and One only forced into active service due to the Angel's sudden appearance and the delays in the production of the other Units, yet it had been weeks since my latest hardware and software upgrade.

Still, it felt good to be back inside my machine, especially since the simulation cages only had shoulder restraints, and I ran my hand slowly across the smooth metal and plastic controls. Sitting here felt so… right, so natural, that for a moment I felt fear, I was a Tech, not a solider! But with the presence at my shoulder and a weapon in my hand I knew could face down any enemy.

_What War does not destroy, is forever changed by that contact. _

I frowned, knowing the truth of that statement, and then paused, how would I know? This was my first and hopefully last war.

"Third Child inserted. Beginning activation." Maya said though the silence, and I gave a start, transferring an Eva from the launch cages to the simulation ones was another time consuming exercise. I had spaced out for most off it.

"What about Unit Zero's personal data?" Ritsuko asked a tech,

"Already reconfigured," the man replied promptly

"How's he doing?" That was Misato,

"A bit jittery, but everything else looks fine."

"Its his first time piloting another Eva, I suppose its only natural that he's nervous."

"Its stupid." Asuka muttered irritably in German, "Why should he care what Eva he's in anyway?"

"It makes a difference to Shinji, its just how he is." Misato responded gently, flicking open a link to the two of us. Her grasp of the language was remarkable

"I know that." Asuka snapped back, and then added in English, "He's such a dork."

Misato grinned uncertainly and I hid a chuckle behind a cough, English still confused our guardian, a fact Asuka took full advantage of.

"Say, why are you not running these tests on the Tech and me?" Asuka said suddenly, switching back to Japanese, "Is there something wrong with us?"

"Well, I-, um. We didn't think that you two would want to pilot any Eva except your own."

"Yeah, like I would let her mess up my machine." I added. Asuka stuck out her tongue while further reports criss-crossed the net,

"LCL electrolysed."

"Initiating first connection."

"Shinji, how do you feel in there?" Ritsuko asked calmly, as if she had done this more times than she cared to remember, on the link, he raised his head. "Any pain or irritation?"

"No,its just… weird."

That got a raised eyebrow from Asuka, and my own curiosity was provoked, it looked like zero had accepted him. Did it mean we could move between units as needed?

"Like incompatibility?" Ritsuko's pen was whirling over her clipboard.

"No, not like that… it just smells like Rei."

There was an awkward pause that I tried to cover with another cough, but nothing could hide Asuka's outburst.

"It smells like what?" she asked in a mixed tone of outrage and disgust, "Has he been-? eww." She gave a disgusted shudder and quickly shifted her gaze to one of the blank walls, muttering a single word. "Pervert."

I gave the LCL in my own plug a careful sniff, wondering if the liquid somehow picked up our sent, and then shook my head distantly. Shinji could have meant anything. Like when you can tell that someone you know is standing behind you when they haven't made a sound. The presence watched my antics in bewilderment.

Misato turned to ask Ritsuko a question the directional microphone didn't catch, and the answer started a mild argument between her friend and her assistant, the words "Dummy System" being the only ones I caught, although Maya's reluctance was unmistakable.

"Hey, did you get any of that?" I asked Asuka, the girl now sat with her arms folded and her legs crossed, clearly fed up, "What are they talking about?"

"How should I know?" she replied scathingly, "Shinji's the one they all fawn over, why don't you ask him?"

I raised my hands to ward of her assault, "Alright, forget I asked." I sighed and lent back in the command seat wearily, "It seems the dragon still has fangs." The presence seemed to find the whole thing amusing.

"Third connection achieved." Maya continued, with no sign that anything had happened, it must have been a minor technical problem.

"Self psycho-graph is stable." Hyuga added, "The third child seemed to be coping well."

"Awww, is baby liking momma's breast?" Asuka interrupted in a mocking lovey-dovey voice, "Or would the ickle boy prefer to be inside her womb all safe and warm, huh?"

"Asuka." Ritsuko snapped, "You're producing data interference, leave him alone."

"Fine." she growled, closing all links but mine, "See, tech? He gets pampered and he isn't even the best pilot, the whole thing reeks of favouritism."

I gave a noncommittal grunt, rubbing my top lip with a finger as if pondering a moustache I hadn't grown; her ego would get no stoking from me.

"Commence A-10 nerve connection." Ritsuko ordered, as if the interruption had not occurred,

"Harmonic spike." Maya added, right on her heels, "It's increased by twenty points."

Shinji gave a quiet moan and placed a hand to his forehead, unnoticed by any in the control centre, I keyed his comm.

"Shinji? Are you alright?"

"my.. my head."

"Headache? No surprise there." I told him reassuringly,

"Something's trying to get into my mind," he said through gritted teeth, "Rei? What-?" he doubled over, clutching at his head with both hands, then his comm. cut out.

Alarms started shrieking and the hoard of techs in the control room suddenly burst into frenzied activity.

Then, at the cusp of my hearing, I heard a rage-filled roar and the wall at my back shuddered. Understanding hit me. Eva Zero had gone berserk. Images of Rei in her bandages flashed though my head, then it was Shinji, lying in a hospital bed with his spine broken. Anger filled my link with the presence. I was his friend and it was my duty to watch his back, but I was trapped scant feet away from the source of his pain. The rage grew.

"What the hell's going on?" Asuka yelled, "I just felt the whole cage move."

"Metal contamination spreading." Maya told her superior, "There's something wrong in the nerve pulse."

"Impossible, this can't happen at this plug depth." Ritsuko protested,

"Its not coming from the plug, the intrusion is coming from the Eva!"

I flexed my shoulders, feeling the sudden tightness of the restraints; they were feeble compared to the ones that lined the main cage. I should be able to break free easily.

Sudden pressure on my forearm made me stop, nothing had touched me, at least nothing I could see, and the restraints were only fixed to my shoulders. So that left only one thing.

The presence even closer to me than usual, advising caution along with the knowledge that any action I took could cause further harm. I took my hands from the controls, trusting its judgement and was rewarded by a burst of pride. The light pressure remained though. It knew me too well.

"Disconnect all of Unit Zero's connection circuits immediately!" Ritsuko barked,

"Main power disconnected." A tech added to the babble of reports, "Unit Zero has ten seconds of back power remaining."

"What's Shinji's status?" Misato asked,

"Unknown, we can't monitor him."

"The same error," Ritsuko moaned, staring past my screen and into Zero's cage, "Is it trying to absorb Shinji?"

There came another howl, then a thunderous crash and all the visual links to the control centre cut out, leaving only disjointed radio transmissions. The light pressure on my arm increased for a split second. The Presence was trying to comfort me.

"Rei, get away from there now!"

"Activation will terminate in seven seconds."

The sound of repetitive impacts was even closer now; the Eva must be trying to get though the walls of the cage.

"Six."

The frequency of the impacts increased.

"Five."

The armoured tiles on my side of the wall started to bulge outwards.

"Four."

I closed my eyes and accepted the soothing emotions that radiated from the presence. Ritsuko could stop it. Shinji would be all right.

"Three."

Several panels fell to the floor of my cage, causing my eyes to snap open, but the presence again cautioned me back to stillness with a brief burst of emotion,

"Two."

More tiles followed, Unit Zero was putting its full weight into breaking through.

"One."

The last panel near the bulge gave up its fight against gravity, falling to join its fellows in the pile beside my right foot, the ringing clang of metal-on-metal sounded strangely loud in the silence.

"Unit Zero has shut down."

"Get Shinji out of there now, I want him examined for any injuries or contamination as soon as possible."

"Roger, recovery team four is on its way now."

There was a sigh, probably from Misato, and then her voice returned to the squad net, sounding exhausted.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Oh we're fine, we just sat here like good children while wonder girls machine tried to kill everyone." Asuka seethed anger and frustration, "Why? Did you need us?"

"I'm interested in finding out what happened major," I added, with a glare at Asuka, who dialled up the heat and returned it, "Is Shinji okay?"

"The recovery team just pulled him out now, standby." There was a short pause, "No serious injures but he's going to have to spend he night in the hospital while they check for metal contamination. You guys can go home, use the train, I've got a hell of a lot of paperwork to fill out after this."

The walls of my plug returned to their default green and it slid backwards into the wall behind the unit, where it was a simple matter to hop out and onto the burnished metal deck plates and cough up the usual lungful of LCL. Once I was clear the plug slid back into the Eva and the armoured hatched came down, accompanied by the rumble of the massive machines as it was returned to its cage far above.

"Trust Shinji to screw everything up." Said Asuka from right behind me, Misato's stealth must have been rubbing off on her, I was proud I didn't twitch a muscle.

"Its hardly his fault," I protested, turning to face her, "It was Rei's Unit-"

"Yeah, maybe something in her dumb obey-all-orders head had something to do with it." Asuka agreed with her hands on her hips and staring up at me as if I had had a hand in it as well, LCL slick in her flame-red hair, "The Japanese are just weird."

She turned and walked off, wringing her hair in her hands and leaving a trail of fluid all the way towards the simulation locker rooms.

I suppressed my frustration that she thought she could just turn me off when she was finished talking to me, at the least she could try to be civil.

"And pigs will fly over London." I muttered angrily, before moving to follow her. "Some things will _never_ change."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"The old men are smarter than I thought, Ikari, they saw though our report and are now applying "Pressure" now they're buzzing around our heads like a swarm of hornets, looking for things to complain about."

"We hold all the tiles, all the winds and dragons, there is nothing they can do."

"That doesn't mean we should keep tipping our hand. If SEELE takes too much of an interest, they could…. cause problems."

"Everything is going according to the schedule, there are no problems."

"What about the Unit Zero incident? That wasn't part of anyone's plan."

"It doesn't matter, Rei resynchronised successfully."

"What about the Adam project? Is it still behind schedule?"

"Less then two percent. It is within acceptable limits."

"Then the Lance of Longinus is…"

"Going as planned, Rei is handling the operation."

" The colonel's work again?"

"Indeed."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	15. The Ghosts of London

Chapter 15: Ghosts of London.

There are several unpleasant ways to be woken up in the morning; such as the mob breaking down the front door, or the sudden realisation that's it's the Monday that seemed so far off the previous Friday. Although these are only yardsticks to measure everything else by, being one and ten on the Unpleasant scale respectively.

Being woken by the phone ringing can be classed around a four, depending on the time exactly. In this case, two am, I had classed it as a definite One as I hunted around my floor for the cursed object, if only to stop the incessant shrieking.

"If this is a drill, I swear I will have your eyes Ritsuko." I growled down the handset after I had tripped over it, expecting it to be the annoying MAGI deployment call, and was totally unprepared for Sergeant Kelly's voice to boom down the line. He hardly needed a phone.

"Well good morning to you too lad," he said cheerfully, "You haven't even sent your dear old sergeant a postcard from Japan or wherever it is that they dragged you off to."

I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand as I sat down on my bed, smiling despite my irritation at the odd hours phone call. In Sergeant Kelly's mind, time zones happened to other people. If he was awake, everyone else should be too.

"Well I've been kind of busy, sergeant," I replied, "A lot of things have happened in the last few months."

"I don't doubt it for a second, lad." He assured me, "The Major's been tight-lipped about what happened, but I know you're upholding the honour of the Maintenance division, what ever you're doing."

I glanced at the cloth hat that could just be seen under a pile of Unit Five data files, "I guess you could say that."

"Aye. Anyway, I'm calling to remind you that all of us back in London are thinking about you, lad."

Sudden guilt wrenched my stomach; tomorrow was the day I dreaded.

"You alright, lad? You've gone very quiet."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine sergeant."

I fell silent but Sergeant Kelly seemed to understand, waiting calmly for me to speak again.

"The Major may not tell me anything," he said after a while, "But your old sergeant can put two and two together, you've got something to do with those robots on the news. One of them at least, probably the green one if I'm not mistaken. Your parents would be damn proud of you. Remember that."

"Thank you. Erm, sergeant? Could I ask a favour of you?"

"Just name it, lad." He replied instantly.

"Could you lay some flowers on, on her grave for me?"

"Don't worry, I've got some already picked out for her. She knows you would never forget her. Stay safe."

The line clicked closed and I dropped the phone back into the debris around my bed. Another year passed, and the old wound was opened.

I sat in silence for a few minutes. The memories raging though my head, and about an hour later I fell into a fitful sleep.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I must admit the Japanese Headmasters have several good ideas to increase the workload of their students, and having a different class each month in charge of cleaning the whole building saved money for dedicated cleaners and mostly prevented vandalism and graffiti, after all, who would want to tag a wall if you might be the one chosen to repaint it?

Actually deciding who did what in the extra hour we had to stay behind caused some delay, and I found out that once the press of bodies around Hikari had dissipated, I had been assigned stacking chairs and rubbish bag removal, A fine use of my talents.

Stacking all the chairs in each classroom took very little time, and to keep myself occupied during the wait for the rubbish bags I attempted to fix the air-conditioning. Hikari came down hard on anyone she thought was slacking.

I had next to no knowledge of the workings of the temperamental wall mounted unit, and I had a growing suspicion that my usual tools where unsuited for the task, but it kept Hikari satisfied that I was being productive.

The instruction manual was little help, so like any good tech; I decided to attempt my own methods.

"Hey, Shinji, could you pass up something I can hit this with?" I asked down to him, still staring into the insides of the machine from my perch on top of a handy desk, only glancing at him when he failed to respond.

Rei had been tasked with cleaning the windows, and had just knelt beside her bucket to add more water to her cloth, wringing out the excess with the focus she gave all her assignments. Shinji was watching her curiously, earning several quiet sniggers from our classmates.

Toji brought him back to earth with the subtle technique of hitting him on the head with a broom "Get back to work!"

One of the chalk erasers bounced from the back of his head with a satisfying crack, Hikari had noticed his actions during a conversation with Asuka.

"Why don't you get back to work too, Toji?" She asked with one hand on her hip, the other tossed a second eraser in such a way I concentrated intently on my own work, fearing a chalky death.

Toji glared at her for a second, a raised eyebrow from the girl put an end to that, and he continued sweeping the floor without comment. Hikari watched him critically for a while longer then returned to speaking with Asuka.

I gave her the victory sign with my hand hidden from Toji by my body and she returned it along with a triumphant smile. She made controlling him look effortless.

"Tanus, we're done with this room," Said a boy near the front, holding up a blue rubbish bag, "You can take this bag to the incinerator."

"Watch how fast I go." I replied, reattaching the covering to the air conditioner and hopping down, "I get all the fun jobs."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Another day, another useless test that proves nothing." Asuka complained, her voice echoing slightly in the harmonics plug, giving a tiny ring to her words. "I have better things to do then sit around for hours."

I nodded false agreement from my own plug; I found these tests peaceful and a good way to allow the stress to the day to leach from my muscles. It was the only good thing to come out of Ritsuko's vendetta against my sync ratio.

It seemed to satisfy, as the second child fell silent, and I cast my mind around for the presence, finding it far above me in its cage. Unusually, it seemed aware of my attempts to contact it this time, and sent feelings of welcome and pride back down at me, diluted by the distance between us.

I heard a thud and my plug moved downwards a fraction, causing my link to the presence to slip, leaving me with a piercing headache. I tried to push it out of my head, but my efforts were feeble and it continued to send its tendrils of pain into my skull.

"Okay, that's too far, bring him back up to previous levels."

"Ma'am, I'm getting a restraint error from cage six. Wait, it's gone. Must have been a software glitch."

"We'll sort that out later, send the details to the Maintenance division, low priority."

"Yes ma'am."

"Okay, that will do for now, you four can take off now."

"Its about time," Asuka snapped, "These constant experiments are really getting on my nerves."

"Heh, good one." I said sleepily as my tedious link to unit five was severed, leaving a slight sense of loss.

"Tech, have you lost your last marble?" Asuka turned her fury onto me,

"Nerves, NERV." I explained with a grin, "My old CO would have been proud of that one."

"Idiot male." She yelled across the gap as the cranes to lift the command chairs away from the plugs rumbled into life. I gave her a half heated wave before heading towards the locker rooms with Shinji.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"His test scores are steadily increasing regardless," Ritsuko told her friend as she watched the children leave the chamber, "But don't you think they're being more subdued then usual?"

"What, you mean Tanus's standard trash talk with Asuka?" Misato replied, sitting on the edge of the terminal, "It didn't reach its usual intensity, and Shinji's always been quiet, but then, tomorrow's an important day for both of them."

"Oh. Yeah, tomorrow…" Ritsuko trailed off, staring at the orange plugs in the wall below. "Strange that they could both lose their mothers on the same day, even though years apart." She turned back to Misato, "Did we ever find out who was responsible for the London Incident?"

Misato snorted, "No. Section Two is still investigating that seven years on, I doubt they're going to have any breakthroughs now. But if they did, I'd send Unit Five right after them."

"They've done better than my original predictions so far, Shinji especially. I'd even say that together they're the lynchpin of our defence. "

"The sword and the shield." Misato replied distantly,

"Very much so. They just need to keep it together for a little while longer. Mankind needs them to."

"I'll talk to them. Keeping their feelings bottled up inside will only cause further hurt down the line."

Misato shook out her hair and stood, "Well, I'd better get going if I want to buy that dress before the stores close."

"I still think you should wear the orange one, Kaji would love it."

"Shut your face!"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Unwilling to face the sight of unpacked boxes and old furniture that still littered my apartment, my home in England had been bigger, and the memories they brought. I decided to tag along with Shinji and Asuka for the evening, claiming that boredom had forced me upstairs.

Shinji had shut himself away in his room, ignoring all of my attempts to speak with him and Misato hadn't returned from headquarters yet. That left Pen-Pen and Asuka, and they seemed content to watch television. I was lucky to find one of my old books in a stack of papers on the coffee table.

"Urgh. Japanese shows are a load of bull." Asuka commented, changing channels, She had changed into a t-shirt and shorts since arriving back, and was now sat upside down with her legs up the back of the sofa and her head touching the floor beside my boots. Pen-Pen was doing the same on his beanbag beside a large bag of crisps the two of them where sharing.

I lowered my book to examine the programmes before Asuka switched the channel, first one of those chick flicks that had forced me to resort to my book, then a documentary about Second Impact, then an advert for some new SUV, then the nine o'clock news. She switched it off in disgust.

"Maybe its to encourage kids to go back to using their imagination for entrainment." I suggested, forestalling her rant about how inferior Japan was, dropping the book to land beside her head, "Have a read of that."

"Books bore me." She protested, but tilted the paperback to examine the blurb on the cover anyway.

The German woman had opened the novel and was flicking though the first few pages when Misato arrived back with her hands filled with shopping bags whose labels screamed expensive. She always claimed she was short of money.

"Hiya guys." Our guardian greeted us cheerfully as she dumped the bags in her bedroom,

"How's it going?" replied Asuka, still reading,

"I just stopped off in town to get a few things for Lieutenant Kio's wedding tomorrow.Then again, shouldn't you be in bed by now Asuka?"

"Its just a date with some med-student Hikari's forcing me into. I don't see why I should make too much effort. Then I'd never get rid of him." Suddenly her face took on a look of determination and she rolled forwards off the sofa and onto her feet in a single fluid movement. I nearly applauded. "Could I borrow some of that lavender perfume?"

"No." Misato replied, appearing in the doorway for a second, "That stuff isn't for kids."

"Humph, Cheapskate." Asuka fell back onto the cushions, now sitting normally with her arms along the back. I spent my time examining the remains of her bag of crisps.

"Is Shinji in his room?" Misato asked, briefly materializing in the doorway again

"Yeah," Asuka answered with a sigh, "He's been sealed inside there since he got home. Not even talking to nimrod here when he showed up. I don't think he wants to see his father tomorrow. If he hates his father, why doesn't he just say it? Saves a lot of hassle."

"Some of us lack your tact and insight." I answered, tipping the last of the crumbs into my mouth and making a note of the nimrod comment.

"I don't think he truly hates his father, that's the problem." Misato joined us in the living room in her own casual clothes, making my orange jacket and cap seem formal beside the two of them, "Its just that he doesn't know what to do about it."

"He's all yours." Asuka had recovered the book and had resumed reading, jerking a thumb over her shoulder towards Shinji's room. "I personally enjoy the break from his usual racket."

That she would think Shinji could make more noise then her caused me to choke on my little snack, Misato hammered on my back to dislodge it.

"Do you have anything you want to talk about Tanus?" she asked casually.

I turned away from her, my fragile good mood had been shattered, and I knew exactly what she was clumsily casting her line for. "Why should I bother? It's probably all in my file anyway. You must know all about it."

"Well, actually it is. But you can't just walk away from something like that, it leaves scars." Misato was radiating understanding and calm, with undertones of her usual firmness, but I was having none of it.

"All soldiers have scars." I snapped, standing up. "Some are kept as a reminder."

"Tanus, I'm trying to help you."

"Save it, _Major_." I snared, putting scornful emphasis on the rank as I headed for the door, "She's gone. No amount of help from you or anyone else can bring her back. I'll deal with it by myself!"

The last word was a roar that caused Misato and Asuka to flinch as I slammed the corridor divide closed in my wake.

"Its my problem." I hissed, striding from the apartment, "I'll face it alone."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The following morning, August 4th, 2015, I awoke with the dawn just pushing it above the eastern mountains, and quickly showered and dressed, not into my usual clothes with the coveralls on top, but my formal dress uniform usually meant for parades.

I suddenly realised, once I had changed into the beige clothing, that I had no where to go with them on, my mother's grave being on the outskirts of Cambridge where she had grown up, but it seemed disrespectful to take them of again, especially since I had replaced my rank badges with pilot insignia and my beret pin with one of my fathers that I had uncovered.

The winged cobra shone on the red fabric of my beret, its gold surface tinted to a brighter hue in the early morning light, and I laughed humourlessly at my own reflection in the glass of the patio doors. I put so much effort into looking like this every year, mainly because the others at London base had expected it. They had no idea that I knew the truth of The London Incident.

As I turned from the glass, my eyes caught sight of a picture set on a cabinet stood at the back of the living room, set out like it had been back home, the gleam of sunlight on its glided frame sent the impulse that caused me to cross the room and pick it up.

I had never truly looked at any picture of my mother since that day, my mind blocking out details whenever my eyes flashed over her face, but now I focused intently on the occupant's smiling, bespectacled features.

It was a picture of my mother in her lab coat, in the midst of some long forgotten test, but sparing time to flash a victory sign to the photographer. Even though this had obviously been taken on the fly, it still seemed to reflect the woman perfectly.

Doctor Lara Harrab's shimmering, jet-black hair fell to her waist in a single thick braid, and her lab coat was worn open, serving only as a convenient place to keep her ID card and emergency chocolate stash, revealing her short crimson skirt and navy-blue blouse to add a splash of colour to the dull surroundings of beige and steel.

My mother's assistant, the late Lieutenant Kennedy, could be seen in the background, the picture catching her in the mist of a sigh at her superior's antics. She had never been able to grasp the reasoning behind my mother's carefree approach to her job.

_"If you live life to its fullest, then anywhere can be heaven. That's something a friend taught me a while back, Treasure. I only wish she and Kyoko were still here to enjoy it."_

Her gentle voice echoed at the back of my mind as I carefully returned the picture to its place; she had always been on the cusp of laughter, especially during the experiments that made up most of her day. I had been present for a lot of them; it had been her choice to keep me close, but away from trouble by the watchful eyes of her assistant.

I returned the picture to its place, wiping my fingerprints from the frame with a sleeve. My memories were given free reign today, and I allowed them to rampage though my skull as I stood out on the balcony and watched the city awaken.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I had originally decided to spend the day painting, my old hobby seemed to have much more significance today, but no matter how long I sat on the balcony, staring at the mountains in the distance, my attempts to capture then on paper ended in failure and childish sketches that would make a pre-school teacher laugh.

Instead I wandered the city that had been constructed as the focal point of angel attacks. None of the hordes of people gave the many warnings of Eva emergence locations and support structures a second glance. Crowds of tourists watched the massive cannons and missile launchers that peppered the majority of the skyscrapers as they underwent their daily testing and maintenance. In short, they lived not as is NERV was their last hope, but rather their certainty.

They took notice of my uniform however, and the respect and politeness they showed me was humbling, crowds parting to let me walk past unhindered, traffic stopping to allow me to cross a busy street with barely a honk of a horn and the warm smiles they all flashed as they saw the fig leaf and pilot pins on my collar.

As the sun was sinking into the western hills, my aimless wanderings had brought me to the statue that Asuka had sat on before our attack on the seventh angel, it seemed a decent spot to watch the final rays of sunlight vanish.

I climbed to sit on the old warrior's shoulder, supporting myself with a foot in the crook of his pointing right arm and the other hanging down his chest. The view from this perch help ease my mind.

"Hey, Tech!"

The voice snapped me out of my daydream and I looked down to the foot of the statue, Asuka was staring up at me curiously. She must have been on her way back home from her forced date with that med student, as she was wearing a plain green dress. Her reluctance to meet him was obvious. I wondered what she'd wear if it had been Kaji she had to see.

"Oh, Evening, Asuka." I replied, turning to watch the sun again, "Do you need something?"

"Well, first I want to know what you're doing up there dressed up like a member of your queen's guard." She folded her arms and her handbag bounced from the plinth, "It looks odd on you."

I laughed, "I could say the same about you. That's rather conservative considering your previous tastes."

"Yeah, yeah, very funny techie-boy." Asuka rolled her eyes and clambered up, soon reaching the statue's other shoulder with a gymnast's grace. She even still had her handbag with her.

"You haven't answered my question." She pressed, pausing to sort out her hair and make herself comfortable. "And what was with that outburst yesterday? That's not like you."

Asuka muttered under her breath when I remained silent then reached across the gap between us and gave me a gentle shove, causing me to grab onto the statue for support.

"Don't ignore me. Tech." She said, "What ever you may think, I'm not stupid. I have eyes and ears and a brain to put it all together. Something is bothering you, and I need to know what. As Primary Combat Pilot, I need to know I can count on you not to hinder me in combat."

"Sorry Asuka, but some wounds can't be healed. Rest assured I wouldn't let it interfere with my work. It's a once a year thing. Perhaps I'll tell you about it some day."

"Humph" Asuka folded her arms, "Alright. I'll hold you to that."

She dropped back down to street level and pulled on her shoes, "just don't turn into a pampered dork like Shinji."

"He has his strengths." I replied adjusting the angle of my beret, "and I cover his weaknesses."

Asuka stared up at me for a while then sighed and walked away.

I watched her until she reached the other end of the street, where she paused to stare at me over her shoulder. Then she was gone.

In the distance, the final shutters were slamming closed over the missile launchers and twenty-inch guns that formed just a small part of the Tokyo three, interception network.

My head rang with the sounds of death.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	16. Guilt, Darkness, Pain

Chapter 16: Guilt, Darkness, Pain.

Life had returned to some semblance of normality after a week or so, Shinji had even emerged from his subdued attitude to be slightly happier then before, bustling around Misato's kitchen with a passion that sometimes stirred in me while painting, for him, cooking was his release.

Misato had invited me up for breakfast earlier, claiming Shinji was trying out some new recipe, and I had accepted, unknowingly agreeing to fix her water heater at the same instant.

I rubbed my cheek as I searched my array of tools for my portable soldering iron, A half-awake Asuka, dressed in only Misato's nightgown, had met me at the door and her slap had gotten though past my defences. My eyes had been elsewhere.

After wearing my tool belt the same way for years, and being yelled at about it for nearly as long by Sergeant Kelly, I could lay my hand on any item I carried without thinking. Not today.

Muttering in irritation as my hand felt its way across the screwdrivers and towards the voltmeter, this job should have only taken a few seconds; now I had to leave the stupid thing on one setting while I fumbled for a simple piece of equipment.

A shriek from the bathroom banished all thoughts of tools from my mind, replacing them with dread as I heard determined footsteps draw closer. The old scene of Misato at the table, Shinji in the kitchen, and myself fixing something had put me back in the days when it was the three of us living here, and I had thought I had accounted for all of the apartment's residents and my work could begin.

Suddenly, the divide was thrown open, and a towel wearing, red-faced German girl stood in the opening opposite Misato and Shinji, "It's too hot!" she hissed, her eyes looking for someone to blame. Thankfully my friend and our guardian held her attention long enough for me to close the panel and slide casually away from it, ready to answer her stare with hurt innocence. Sergeant Kelly's training had covered officers too.

"I'm sorry." Said Shinji, frozen in place while carrying a steaming pot of soup, "I should have told you-"

"Oh, that's what you always say!" Asuka cried, throwing up her arms, Shinji and myself instinctively looked away as flesh moved, "You always back away from any confrontation, don't you?"

"I'm sorry." He stammered, the sudden shift from relaxed chief back to Shinji Ikari had thrown him off track; Asuka was quick to punish him.

"There you go again! You can't be at fault for everything! Just for once, blame someone else!"

"There, there," Misato once again adopted the role of councillor, "That's just Shinji's way, you know how he is."

She had made a fatal mistake. The best approach to Asuka's many rants was to either keep silent and avoid attracting attention, or cut her off early so she can't build up momentum or else she just switches targets. I slowly lowered myself so only my cap was poking out from under the table. It was too late for the two of them, but she wasn't getting me.

"Its just so easy for you to accept his pathetic habits isn't it?" I heard the dragon snap, "Don't you think you've been too easy on him?"

"Me? What-?" Misato suddenly looked like a general expecting a frontal attack, only to hear nasty things happening behind her.

"Maybe you and Kaji have hooked back up, but that doesn't mean you can ignore the welfare of the rest of us!"

"Look, there's nothing going on between me and Kaji!"

At that moment, fate delivered the final blow to Misato's deteriorating defence.

"Hey, Misato," The voice of the man in question echoed from the answering machine in the study, "I've finally found a bar that serves a decent drink, I'll pick you up after work, okay?" Asuka gave a triumphant huff as Misato sagged and the message beeped its end. I was fully under the table now. The baroness was on her throne, and delivering judgement on the little folk.

"I've never been around someone involved in such an indecent relationship." She told our guardian haughtily, like her own desire for the man wasn't, "You're supposed to be our car-giver and role model? What a hypocrite! Its disgusting!"

With the Judgement over, the curtain was slammed back into place and she stormed back to the bathroom. After a few seconds, I raised my head above chair level cautiously just in time to be caught by Asuka's sudden reappearance.

"And fix the damn heater!"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Recalculating the Gamma Mind Graph: pattern green."

"Confirmed, First Child's sync score, plus three."

"No change in Forth Child's harmonics or sync charts. I'll check the data transmitter."

"Two hour test report filed, prepping data link to Melchior archives."

I shifted in my command seat as Ritsuko shot a disapproving frown in my direction, but to my relief said nothing. My test scores had flat lined after the last test, and none of Ritsuko's attempts to increase it were working, soon she would force me back onto the extra training roster.

The presence was watching me sleepily, its stubborn reluctance to comply with Ritsuko's orders were the real reason that my score was lagging so far behind, but the Head of the Technical Division had ignored my explanations and often lectured me on how important concentration was. Sometimes she went on for hours.

My own irritation was nothing compared to Asuka's, Shinji had been steadily catching up to her on the charts, and now only a few points separated him from Primary Combat Pilot status. When that handful of points vanished, Unit Two would become the back up, and Rei and myself would be the reserve force. Asuka's look of fierce concentration said quite plainly that she intended to keep that gap open as wide as possible.

I turned my attention to The First Child, she was so quiet she was difficult to notice, even when she was right in front of you, yet she was always watchful, speaking quickly and to the point when circumstances demanded it. She was a model solider.

At the moment she had her eyes closed in quiet mediation, seemingly listening to the hum of LCL purifiers and slowly increasing her own score point by point. I sighed, Rei made piloting look effortless.

Shinji's face gave no hint of what was happening inside his head, it looked like he was sleeping, but I knew Ritsuko would immediately notice any drop in concentration, so he must have adopted the semi-trance that I used.

The presence echoed my own slight resentment of the harsh regime pilled solely on my shoulders, and the apparent ease that Shinji seemed to increase his test scores. I noticed that the presence's feelings were slightly different from my own, but once again I was gently but firmly pushed away when I inquired about it. At least it didn't decide to sulk and cause another Sync-score drop.

Misato's sudden and cheerful intrusion into the test caused heads to rise across all four Evas, despite the varying attitudes to the results and the fact she seemed to only want to speak to Shinji. Anything that Misato had to say usually helped break the monotony.

"So, how are my test scores looking?" Shinji asked eagerly,

"You're doing great." Misato replied, giving him a thumb up, "You're number one!"

Shinji's eyes lit up, and I grinned with him, Rei gave him a respectful nod, and then returned to her task. Nothing seemed to disrupt that serene attitude of hers.

Asuka's face was carefully neutral, she only stared at the boy in silence, and nothing was given away from her posture or expression that she didn't want to let go of, and remained so after the test and through the debriefing. Then she left the control room without a word, moving robotically, like someone under strict control, but the illusion broke just as she reached the doorway. I managed to catch a glimpse of her face.

It was twisted in pure fury.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

There were few words to describe the sunrise over the spires of Tokyo three, the early morning light reflecting from the glass and steel monoliths that stood proudly in the city centre in ways that were strangely soothing and helped remove the weariness of a sleepless night from my shoulders.

My sketchpad and paints had tried to capture the scene, but my lack of practice still left me with a pale intimation in comparison to the landscapes my mother had painted in her prime, they had been rescued from the boxes and now occupied the walls of the apartment at my back, adding her love of bright collars to the drab place I now called home.

I examined my creation a while longer, then nodded to myself, stood up, and took a step towards the open door into the living room. A NERV mug fell to the tiles in front of me, smashing into tiny fragments beside my boot.

It held my gaze for a second, and then I slowly raised my attention to the balcony above, but there was no one standing overlooking the edge, only grey concrete glowing in the dawn light and Misato's washing line shifting slightly in the breeze.

A frown crossed my face, the Major's casual abandonment of her finished coffee cups was getting annoying, that could have landed on me, and I swept up the pieces with a page torn out of my sketchbook.

As I stood, I heard the subtle sound of a patio door hurriedly sliding shut.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

A few minutes later, I was hovering outside Misato's apartment, shifting my weight from foot to foot while I waited for someone to answer the door, I knew Shinji used to get up not long after I did in his efforts to keep Misato's inner slob under control, but it was possible he had decided to have a lie in today. I would change that; he deserved to have a little fun for once.

My eyes found the engraved sign on the metal door, the copper surface had lost its usual sheen, and I lifted a hand to give it a quick wipe when it slid into the wall to reveal Asuka, thankfully already in her yellow dress rather than one of the nightgowns Misato had lent her.

For a second we just stared, my own surprise mirrored in her face and my arm still raised, I managed to change it to a respectful lift of my cap.

"Morning." I said, fear of retribution from yesterday made my tone cheerful and non-threatening, she would take any excuse to tear me a new one. "Is Shinji awake yet?"

Asuka gave me a look that suggested that I had crawled out of some stagnant pond before replying, "Is that why you dragged me out of bed this early, Tech? First Misato was stomping around before she went out, now you're stomping around out here. I thought Englishman were supposed to be gentlemen?"

She didn't shout. Rather, her voice was a low growl that nevertheless managed to carry all her contempt and rage at the time of day in general, and the nervous boy in front of her in particular.

I swallowed a lump in my throat, perhaps this was the day she tried to repay me for my earlier cheek, then I realised I was backing away from a girl that just came up to my shoulder.

"Some things can't be helped." I told her with a casual shrug, "I thought Shinji would like to spend some time with his friend rather than playing servant to you and Misato."

That must have tipped her over whatever edge she was walking at the moment, and true to form, her hand lashed out with lightning speed, but I was ready for it, catching her wrist scant inches from its indented target.

Her other hand came round, but I had expected that as well, and intercepted it with my free arm, using her own momentum to spin her around. I now held both her wrists together and had restrained her so she was facing back into the apartment she had just left.

Her foot came down heavily on mine; her heel had been touching the reinforced leather, and she snarled when her attack failed to raise even a grunt.

"Let go." She ordered in that dangerous monotone, "Now."

"I will once you've calmed down." I replied, leaning down so my mouth was next to her ear and matched her tone, "just be glad I don't fight back."

Asuka gave a loud sigh, tried to free her arms from my grip, and then nodded wearily when they didn't move. "Alright, I'm sorry."

I released her immediately, and stepped back, wiping the smell of her apple perfume from my cheek, the last thing I wanted was to smell like an orchard.

"You do know we're on the same side, right?" I said, offering my hand as an apology of my own, "I can't be bothered with fighting with you all the time. Truce?"

The second child adjusted her stance and rearranged her dress, then took my hand in her own and shook it in the finger-breaking fashion the Germans favoured, "Truce." She agreed, a slight smile flashing across her face when I winced. "At least for now."

Again she switched me off, walking away like I didn't exist, I controlled my annoyance and followed, pausing to remove the boots that had saved my toes and tried to massage some life back into my fingers, and then crossed to Shinji's door, tapping lightly on the doorframe.

"Hey, Primary Combat Pilot, you awake?"

There was a sleepy, barely understandable reply from within and I slid the door open, grinning at the mess of sheets that had cocooned my friend. Several limbs extruded from the tangle.

"Rise and shine, Shinji," I said cheerfully as I crossed the room and grabbed a leg, " its another beautiful day for Tokyo three and its mighty defenders."

I pulled on the limb gently and laughed as the whole thing fell from the bed with a grunt, and dragged it around the floor until the boy emerged.

"Thanks, Tanus." Shinji said sarcastically as I held him up by his ankle like the catch of the day, "I don't need an alarm clock with you around."

"Hey, I offer many services, electrical repair, giant invader extermination, and wake up calls, all for one low price. Order now."

"Where do you get those side-splitting sayings, the back of cereal packets?"

"Why? Is that where you got that one? Everyone's in such a pleasant mood this morning."

"Just put me down."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

There may have been an uneasy truce between, myself and the Second Child, but the thought that I may have freed up her rages to fall entirely on Shinji's shoulders came to me as we prepared for the latest test, as if the boy didn't have enough to deal with at work.

The atmosphere in the cages was extremely hostile, with both Shinji and Asuka sneaking furious glares across the squad net to each other when their rival wasn't looking. Techs in the control room spoke in hushed whispers, even the presence at my side moved cautiously, and I doubted anyone else knew it existed.

"I hope you enjoyed our little encounter, Ikari." Asuka hissed at my friend under the cover of a status update, although every pilot heard it, "That's the last time I'll let you near."

"Do what you want." Shinji replied in a level voice, not even opening his eyes, "I hold the number one spot now, this is the last time I'll let _you_ near."

Asuka's eyes narrowed, and even I could feel the rage in that fierce expression and she hadn't aimed it at me, Shinji seemed unaffected, looking remarkably like his father, unruffled, businesslike, and in control.

"Alert! An Angel has breached our defensive network! All pilots launch immediately and intercept!"

The coolant around our chests began to drain immediately, the excess running down smooth amour plate and muscle as Unit Five was pulled back towards the catapults, its fellow war machines keeping pace on either side.

Eight catapult locks snapped into place in unison and command centre staff informed each of us of our launch paths and the rough battle plan the magi had cooked up in the short time since the alert was issued. Then there was a split second of silence, broken only by the sounds of each machine shifting impatiently in their restraints.

"Unit One, you have the lead, deploy as ordered."

"Roger that." Shinji growled, and his purple Eva rocketed skywards, followed by Asuka and the rest of us at two-second intervals.

My own launch route ended inside one of the false buildings and I stepped clear just as my targeting computers came online. My eyes ran over them looking for my enemy, and the presence swirled protectively around me. We were ready to fight.

I found nothing, only the IFF of the other Evangelions lit up the screen. The presence mirrored my own confusion and my fingers whirled over the keys, checking systems and data links.

"Unit Five to all units, confirm visual on target, I've got nothing."

"Tech, are you blind? Its right in front of you."

I looked up from my screen and straight at a huge back and white sphere drifting apparently above the building like a lost balloon. A low hum was setting my teeth on edge as it moved away. I pulled a rocket launcher from a nearby building and shouldered it; there was no way my systems could miss that at this range.

"Unit five to control, confirm weapons free."

"Negative Unit Five. Hold fire until more data can be gathered."

"Unit one to Unit five, I'm standing by for a targeting solution."

I caught a glimpse of unit one, moving at a crouch past a line of smaller buildings far to my left, his hands only holding a small pistol; he was starting to think like Kensuke.

"I've told you, I've got nothing. It must be jamming me."

"Negative." Said Ritsuko; joining the others at the edge of my HUD, I was getting sick of that word, "We're detecting no ECM from the target. In fact, we're getting very little from it at all. We can't even confirm it's an Angel yet."

"Send them what we have anyway," Misato ordered, I blinked at her sudden arrival on screen, I didn't know she was in today and she looked a little dishevelled, "It might help them. All Units, try and lure the target outside the city. Several districts haven't been evacuated yet and we can't allow a firefight to break out until the civilians are safe. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am." Said Asuka cheerfully, "But shouldn't Shinji be taking point for this op?"

"Huh?" Shinji looked confused by this unexpected support, "Me?"

"Of course." The second child said confidently, I took the opportunity to pull further back from the Angel, "This is a job for the number one bravest sync-ratio holder of them all isn't it?" Her smile turned predatory, "Or is it too much for you, _Hero_?"

Shinji snarled at the sarcastic nickname, and lashed back, "I can do it! Take some notes so you know how it ought to be done!"

"What did you say!?"

"Cut it out you two!" Misato snapped, "This isn't the time!"

"Oh, gee Misato," Shinji replied calmly, "But didn't you say that I was Number one?"

"Well, yeah I did, but-" Misato started to say but Shinji just rolled over her,

"And after all, combat is a job for men. Lets kick ass Tanus."

I laughed as he closed his link, "Well look who took a peek down his plugsuit and found a pair. Unit Five, switching to support role."

"The chauvinistic piglet." Asuka was seething with rage, "I guess I have no choice. Unit two will back him up." Her link closed.

"Unit Zero will back Unit One's Assault." Rei was the only one who had stuck to radio procedure, and the link closed on an untroubled pilot.

I had now put several streets between the target and myself, due to a command I had entered once the order of battle had been set out, my computers were focused on the area around Unit one, scanning for any threats to him, and leaving myself relatively unprotected. Shinji might be in Mecha-Hero-Mode, but I wasn't taking any chances. Unit Five may be the dreadnaught of the team, but even it could fall if enough firepower was sent at it.

"Are you guys in position yet?" Shinji interrupted.

"Not yet." Rei replied in a whisper, her Eva ducking its head around a skyscraper to track the enemy's movements before pulling it back. "Standby. ETA one minute."

"No Eva can teleport where you want them idiot" Asuka snapped, "Give us damn time!"

"I'm about two hundred yards from an ideal firing location." I added, with a stare that dared him to try any of his new found arrogance on me, I was lying prone behind a row of shops that led onto a vast park, trying to remain hidden while watching the enemy's movements, "but it's open ground and I'm not moving until I have some idea of the target's offensive capabilities."

Shinji swore, and closed his link to the rest of us again. Asuka snarled a Germanic insult and gripped her axe tighter in both hands. Unit Two looked as eager to drive the weapon into the boy as much as she did the angel. Fortunately for him, the entire city and the target itself separated them.

I crawled forwards a bit further, to keep the target under surveillance as it drifted further away from me , when shots burst from Shinji's place of concealment and tore through the Angel.

Through where the angel had been, just as the shots were about to make contact, the whole sphere vanished, and alarms shrieked their warnings inside my cockpit. On screen, Unit One was surrounded by a circle highlighted "Pattern: Blue".

"What the hell?" I heard him yell, staring down at his feet in horror, "I'm sinking!"

"Shinji! Get your ass in gear and move!" Misato yelled.

But he ignored her in his panic and several gunshots rang out, aimed at the black substance around his feet, but the shots failed to connect with anything and they passed through the blackness without slowing.

By now he had sunk down to his knees, and he stared skywards into the silent sphere that hovered above him. Its smooth striped surface was strangely mocking.

"Eject that plug!" Misato bellowed, as Unit one sank to its chest, its hands now trapped under the surface, "Hurry!"

"We can't, there's no signal!"

Gone was the arrogant mecha pilot, to be replaced by my old friend, immobilised by terror, and desperately struggling to free himself as he sank further.

I rose into a crouch, and started running back the way I had came, trying to reach him before he was consumed entirely.

"All Units rescue unit one now!" Misato sounded nearly hysterical as Unit one's head sank beneath the surface, he cries for help ended in a burst of static.

Unit two appeared from a side street as I neared the spot where Shinji had vanished, her scarlet Eva falling in beside me while Rei tried to force the angel away with her sniper rifle.

Two shots screamed through the air above our heads as we each grabbed a hold on Shinji's still-extending umbilical cable and started to haul it back in.

"It's gone again!" Ritsuko warned, "Watch the street!"

Asuka immediately dropped Shinji's lifeline and leapt up the side of a building as the Angel's shadow spread beneath us like an oil slick. I threw aside my weapon and tired to climb a building alongside, my hands scrabbling uselessly against the fortified surface until I drove a fist and an opposite foot through the wall, and had my brief moment of security dashed by the realisation that the building was being pulled into the shadow itself.

I hurriedly pulled myself up over the lip of the skyscraper, using my knife as a momentary handhold to help scale the smooth surface until I lay on its featureless roof, with a perfect view of a tar black wasteland.

"It's devouring the whole city." Asuka muttered, staring at the sphere, "How are we supposed to defeat that?"

"All units, retreat immediately. Get to safety."

"Wait!" Rei interrupted suddenly, staring into the darkness from her own tower, "Shinji and Unit one are still in there."

"This is Unit Five, I'm not going anywhere."

"That was an order." Misato said, her face lowered and her fists trembling, "We can't afford to lose the entire unit, withdraw now."

Asuka remained silent, and jumped across the shadow to another building, leaping from rooftop to roof top towards the rally point, and I reluctantly followed her, watching the Angel over my shoulder as I fled.

My inattention to my route caused me to misjudge a jump and I landed on the trailing edge of an armament building tilted by the spreading shadow, my feet slipped over the edge and I fell towards the waiting Angel.

Unit two's arm appeared over the edge and grabbed my failing arm, the end result of crashing face first into the wall was much preferred over the alternative.

"Thanks, Asuka." I panted as she pulled me back up, "I owe you one."

"Just shut up and run," she shot back, "I'm not going to end up like the Hero because of your stupidity. Move!"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Search and rescue helicopters criss-crossed the night sky above NERV's primary command post near the church of Saint Christopher in Tokyo Three's westernmost district; its elevation and location on the edge of the shadow made it a prime spot for the rescue effort to be based.

Occasionally one of the searchlights would pan over the three remaining Eva units as they turned to scan another strip. They had been shut down while Misato waited for details of the latest search, and their bowed heads gave them the look of warriors grieving for their lost kinsman as each sortie turned up no trace of the missing unit.

"The Warlock Tank battalion has surrounded the shadow," Aoba interrupted her thoughts with his professional tones, "They're awaiting further orders."

"Any movement?" The major asked, raising her binoculars to examine the sphere hovering over the exact centre of the city; ironically right above where the fifth angel had tried to drill down to the geo-front months ago.

"None since it reached a diameter of six hundred metres." Hyuga replied, "speaking of which, any reason for us moving all those UN forces in there?"

"There here to help apply pressure, though I doubt the target even knows they're there. Keep me informed."

"Yes ma'am."

She pocketed the field glasses and walked away, resisting the urge to start pacing back and forth beside her command car, a troubled commander lowered morale amongst her subordinates, and it was at rock bottom already.

Asuka was stood atop of one of NERV's own main battle tanks with her hands on her hips and watching the shadow herself, a nearby searchlight illuminated her face.

"Serves him right for being so arrogant." She announced as her CO stood at the railing nearby, "Trying to show a professional like me "how it ought to be done."" She gave an uneasy laugh and dropped down to ground level, "I guess he got what was coming to him, right?"

There was the sound of approaching footsteps and a ringing crack as Rei matched up to the other girl and slapped her across the face, her pale face locked into a disapproving frown.

Asuka took a step backwards, clutching her cheek angrily.

"Oh, were my comments about Shinji pissing you off, Wonder Girl?" her own hand came round and left a mirroring hand print on Rei's own face, she didn't even blink.

"I wonder," the First child said calmly into Asuka's panting face, as if the exchange of blows hadn't occurred, "Do you only pilot Eva for the praise of others?"

"Don't be stupid, I don't need anyone's approval beside my own! _You're_ Ikari's lap dog, always bowing and scraping for the table scraps he cares to throw you!"

"Cut that out, now!" Misato snapped, turning from her own guilt to face the two pilots, "This doesn't accomplish anything. Asuka's right, he acted arbitrary and without consulting anyone. I'll chew him out when he gets back."

The girls stared at each other a few seconds longer, then broke apart, Asuka stalking off towards the temporary mess hall that had been erected several hours ago in the park nearby, and Rei offered Misato a respectful bow before marching off in the opposite direction.

The older woman watched the two of them for a while longer, in case they tried again, then realised with a start that she hadn't seen Tanus since he climbed out of his entry plug. He normally stepped in and stopped disagreements within the squad. As Misato scanned the crowd of soldiers and NERV personnel for him, her eyes fell on the half-open doors of the stone building behind her, the crucifix on its steeple shining silver in the moonlight.

The interior of the church was cool, quiet and only lit by the floodlights outside through the tall glass windows, revealing the boy sat in the pew two rows back from the altar, his head bowed and his plugsuit gleaming green on the cusp of the shadow.

"Any word yet, Major?" he asked, without looking up.

Misato's eyes widened in surprise, she had tried to approach him respectfully in the house of his god, and yet her had recognised her by the little sounds she had made.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked despite herself

"Rei and Asuka don't come in here, and anyway their plugsuits make little squeaking noises as they move," he explained, " Ritsuko is studying the enemy in her command car, and everyone else is busy. That leaves you."

"I see. I'm sorry if I disturbed your prayer."

"You didn't. I try not to talk to people I dislike. I just came in here to get away from the bustle."

He stood, and despite his claim of atheism, his hand darted across his chest in the sign of the crucifix as he turned to face her, although he seemed not to notice it. His face was still in darkness cast by the window frame, but his eyes glittered.

"There's nothing for you to do." Misato told him, forestalling the inevitable question. "Just wait here and try to calm down until the Magi and Ritsuko come up with a plan."

The eyes bobbed, signifying a nod or bow, yet he didn't relax a muscle, "Okay. I trust your judgement. If you say to wait, I'll sit on my hands, but don't expect me to like it."

"Thank you Tanus. We'll get Shinji out of there safe and sound."

"Excuse me, Major?" Hyuga was stood in the doorway, "Doctor Akagi has some new information about the target and has called a briefing. You're both needed there at once."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The majority of NERV's command staff were already clustered around Ritsuko's command car, where someone had placed a dozen chairs and a white board covered with complex formula and diagrams, the doctor herself was still working on one last problem, the sound of the marker pen cutting through the distant rumble of tanks and helicopters as everyone found a place to sit or lean.

I sat myself down on the tarmac, leaning back against the wheel of a UN Jeep as Ritsuko stared to explain the nature of our opponent, gesturing to the white board as she walked us through her calculations and discoveries.

It made me feel stupid as everyone else nodded agreement at each stage, so I phased it out while keeping my ears open for anything I could understand, when Asuka hoisted herself up to sit on the jeep's bonnet, her legs hanging down beside me, but she paid less attention to Ritsuko then I did, her eyes where on the sphere, and her face showed a hint of fear.

I raised my hand to give her leg a reassuring pat, when Misato finally asked a question I could understand.

"So the shadow is actually the angel's body?"

"Correct." Ritsuko folded up her pointer and pocketed it before continuing; "The Angel has a diameter of six hundred meters and a thickness of three nanometers. Hidden in that ultra thin space is an inverted AT field, the area inside that space can only be described with advanced mathematics, but needless to say its big. It could be a whole other universe."

"What about the sphere?" I asked,

"It disappears when the imaginary circuit with the body closes, simply put, this tells me that the object in the sky is a three dimensional shadow, I'm still not certain how that can exist either."

Everyone turned to stare at the sphere as a searchlight from a helicopter passed over it, it may be a shadow, but it seemed watchful.

"That means that whatever swallowed unit one is the real target." Misato muttered,

"Then there's no way we can fight it." Asuka muttered to herself, I did pat her shin that time, just a fleeting contact, and perhaps it was just my imagination, but it seemed to steady her.

"We'll find a way." I told her, as the briefing began to break up, Ritsuko claiming she needed to test a few more theories, "We've got three Evas, the backing of the most powerful supercomputers ever created, and a friend counting on us. We can do it."

Asuka nodded distantly, and then stalked off again without another word, I stood myself, pointedly avoiding looking at my enemy, and headed for the warmth and comfort of Unit Five's entry plug.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The new day was breaking over the mountains when I finally was given the order to power up, and the dawn sky was covered with the vapour trails of hundreds of B 52s, circling high above with their escorts, my targeting computers effortlessly tracked every single one of them and even pasted squadron markings on each lead aircraft in a group.

The sphere still floated above the city, the stripes on its surface seeming to follow me as I worked out the stiffness sleeping inside the plug had wrought.

"What's happening?" I asked as the other Eva's stood, leaving their weapons behind and walked slowly around the circumference of the circle in different directions.

"You'll be informed when you need to know." Ritsuko answered in annoyed tones, "just head for the marker point and standby until I give the order."

"With all due respect Doctor, I only move when given orders by the Major. This is her op."

"Not anymore. Major Katsuragi has been relieved of her command," Ritsuko rubbed a cheek distantly, "Her emotional attachment to Unit one's pilot has led to several lapses in judgement and endangered the success of the mission. Now get moving."

The presence glared at the link as it closed and Unit Five stood, angrily noting her choice of words and refusal to say my friend's name. I felt fear, Ritsuko sounded like she was distancing herself from Shinji, and the arrival of the entire UN Bomber Group only made it worse.

I walked to my assigned point with reluctance, kicking an abandoned car into the depths of the shadow as I moved, was my friend still alive in there? Had he the sense to power down everything he didn't need for basic survival? Or had he panicked, groping around in the darkness until his power level dropped and he suffocated?

I stared up at the circling bombers, was killing Shinji worth destroying the Angel?

The entire shadow was now divided into thirds between each Eva, all of us avoiding eye contact as the trails of the bomber formation break off into smaller groups, spreading across the sky in all directions before ponderously turning back. They had started their bombing run.

"Good." Ritsuko interrupted, "now extend your AT fields to maximum and hold position. Lets do this while there's a chance that the pilot can be saved."

"Roger." I replied, echoing the others, but the guilt of NERV's "The end justifies the means" mentality made the word ring hollow in my ears as the power within my chest grew.

_"Forgive me, Shinji."_ I thought, averting my eyes from the shadow as my AT field flared, around the circle the other Evas' did the same.

Suddenly, the earth shuddered; alarms began shrieking within my plug and the command car, and I struggled to keep my footing as blood-red cracks spread throughout the shadow. Far above, the UN bombers broke off their attack run, their chaff and flare dispensers throwing out countermeasures as they picked up the sudden activity with the enemy and mistook it for an attack.

"What's happening? All stations report!" Ritsuko yelled at her subordinates,

"We don't know!" Hyuga yelled back, "All our sensors are being overloaded."

"You don't think it could be Shinji?" I head Misato ask, her concern a stark contrast to Ritsuko's blunt reply.

"Impossible. Unit One's power Levels should be at zero!"

The sphere was jet black now as the earth heaved around it, its surface bulging and pulsating as something within fought to escape its hated embrace.

Then a blood drenched fist burst from the side in a spay of dark ichors, soon followed by an arm, then Unit One's horned head, pausing only to scream its birth cry to the sky as the sphere exploded into fleshly chucks and it dropped to the ground with enough force to shatter the weakened tarmac.

It was covered from head to toe in the blood of its birth, but that was not what inspired my horror. The beast was standing differently; almost bestial in its movements as it sniffed the air, and then swung its head around to stare hatefully at me.

I couldn't move. Everything vanished from my mind except those glowing eyes, piecing my flesh to examining the soul beneath.

"My God," Ritsuko whispered in the distance, "What kind of monster have we made this from?"

Unit one stared to run at me, its footfalls heavy and powerful as it charged and myself paralysed by fear of this demonic creature that had come to destroy me.

It lunged towards me and I cringed, expecting to be torn apart by my friend for my almost-betrayal, and willing to pay the price he demanded.

Unit Five pulled back an arm, and punched the charging beast full in the face, I heard the armour crack as the force of the blow sent it back the way it had come. The Eva hit the ground on its back; its eyes dimming as it finally exhausted its power and lay still.

"Tanus, stand down! It's all right! Its Unit One!"

I blinked, clearing my mind in a flash, and found my self knelt on Unit one's chest, pinning it to the ground with my knees and my knife at its throat. The presence had pushed me back and now controlled every nervous twitch of the shimmering blade, it was snarling in silent rage.

I was forced to exert all of my limited control over the presence to make it drop the knife, and with a final hiss it fled, vanishing from my sight and severing the link.

Guilt and pain flowed after it.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	17. The Downward Spiral

Chapter 17: The Downward Spiral

Chapter 17: The Downward Spiral.

"You had us worried for a while there, Shinji." I told my friend cheerfully, leaning against the tall glass windows that lined one wall of his hospital room, the bright light of a geo-front morning shining through the glass, "You sure you're okay?"

Shinji was sitting upright under the soft sheets of the hospital bed, flicking through the latest school bulletin that I had delivered without much enthusiasm, then he nodded, tossing the sheaf of papers back onto the small table beside him, "Yeah," he replied finally, "I've been saying that since I woke up, but you know how Misato is."

I nodded distantly, remembering the woman who had thrown herself at the boy as the recovery squad pulled him from the entry plug, wiping the concealed sludge of LCL from his face, I had been too far away to hear what she was saying though the sobs, but the tears alone spoke volumes.

"When can I get out of here?" Shinji asked, summoning me back to the here and now with a jolt, "I'm fed up of just lying in bed all day."

I gave the ceiling a brief glance, noting that the large crack in the plaster was still there, "I'll bet you are."

"Doctor Akagi wants to be absolutely certain you are recovered from your ordeal before reassigning you back to active duty." Rei announced in her calm, unhurried way as she glided through the suddenly open door. "She feels you should also be reminded of protocol and requested that I instruct you."

I chuckled as Shinji flushed bright red, but I'd eat my cap if it were because of her words. Everyone knew that he had a soft spot for the girl, even if he wouldn't admit it.

Rei blinked at the noise and turned her head to stare at me, "Pilot Harrab, I was unaware that you desired instructing also."

"I don't, but thanks for the offer though," I clapped a hand on my friends shoulder as I made for the door, "I'll leave you to it, have fun Shinji."

The door slid closed on his beetroot face as Rei pulled her red book from a pocket and I chuckled to myself again,

"Sometimes I'm a real bastard." I said to myself proudly as I walked towards the bank of lifts that would take me to other parts of the base, slapping the call button with my palm and humming tunelessly as I waited.

An empty lift arrived and I stepped into it, hitting the button for surface access and allowing myself to breathe air not filled with the sharp tang of disinfectant.

The doors opened with a hiss several levels up and a rather angry looking Asuka joined me, unusually wearing her formal parade uniform and hitting the button for the surface with far more force than was needed, killing the backlight.

"Well that was a total waste of my time." She snapped, "making me dress up like this and asking me a bunch of dumb questions and speaking in riddles. Why don't they just ask the hero what happened."

"You've got me at a disadvantage here." I replied, with a sigh, gone were my plans for a relaxing day at school, I had hoped Asuka would leave me alone, "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

Asuka gave a start; she must have though I was just another faceless orange shirt that she could vent at, but she hid it brilliantly.

"I was summoned to a debriefing about that last angel incident," she explained, as if doing so had been her idea, I rolled my eyes, "and The UN Humanitarian committee wanted to know more about what happened. Why didn't they just get _you_ to do it?"

I pulled my mobile from my pocket and held it out with a triumphant grin, "Because I know how the bureaucrats work." The phone was switched off, and had been for the past hour and a half. I made a mental note to thank Misato for her hurried warning after her report had been dissected by the shadowy figures; she obviously hadn't gotten to Asuka in time.

"Well, I hate wearing this crap," She pulled off her beret, and made to throw it against the wall, and would have done if I had not restrained her.

"Don't." I said quietly, my hand on her shoulder, "It looks good on you."

There was an awkward pause. In the midst of the mortification, I found myself wondering where that had come from; Asuka had just been a friend and mildly irritating squad mate. Asuka had turned away so I couldn't see her face, yet she didn't pull away and gripped the crimson beret in both hands.

"Thank you," she whispered, still staring at the wall.

The silence returned, thick with embarrassment, and I lowered my hand. Asuka replaced the beret on her head.

"How's Shinji?" She asked in a neutral tone.

"He's fine, Rei's just checking up on him, he should be discharged later."

"That's- that's good."

The silence returned in force, Asuka stood like a statue facing the wall and I shifted uneasily in my boots. She was too calm, too silent, and all I could do was mimic her and wait for the inevitable explosion.

"You know, I've never really hated you." Asuka said suddenly, turning her head slightly to look at me, the single eye I could see had a slight shine to it, "We're two strangers in a strange land, I thought that was the reason I've put up with you for this long, but now I'm not so sure."

"Asuka, I-,"

She raised her right hand for silence her authority enhanced by the uniform and the badge representing her homeland that glinted on her neck. I lowered my eyes.

"Back when I met you in Berlin all those years ago," she continued, "I just thought you were just a gormless apprentice, always dropping your tools and stammering whenever anyone so much as looked at you."

She laughed briefly and I gave a weak smile, the German instructors came down hard on the slightest fault, when they made Sergeant Kelly look soft, anyone would have been afraid of them.

Asuka then faced me fully and poked me in the chest, "You've changed." She said, "You're sharper, more focused. When you walk, it's with the determined stride of a warrior, not the hurried scuttle of an electrician. I want to know why."

"I don't know what you mean," I replied, not looking at her, "Perhaps the training Ritsuko gives me-,"

Her hand connected with my face with a crack, and the lift doors opened. The techs and command staff waiting for this lift froze at the sight of us, and then quickly hurried away, unwilling to be caught in the Tanus-Asuka war. I could only stare at the smaller pilot with astonishment, there had been pure rage behind that blow and I doubted I could have stopped it if I had even tried. My cap now lay on the floor between us, but I didn't dare try to retrieve it.

"Don't bullshit me, Tanus." She snapped, her voice filled with real fury, I had never seen her this angry, "I've been on that same regime for years and I've read the post op reports of your first battles. I want to know how you can fight so well, I want to know why you willingly throw yourself into danger for our sake, I want to know why I feel-."

Her mouth snapped shut, her face a mask of disbelief and horror, and ran from the lift with her head bowed low and her hair trailing along behind her, the sudden motion sent her beret tumbling to the floor alongside my cap.

The doors closed. The lift continued its ascent. The LED counted off the floors with a soft beeping noise.

"I could ask you the exact same questions." I whispered, my head in my hands, accompanied by the hum of unseen motors "but could we live with the answers?"

The doors opened for the last time, and I stepped out, my mind in turmoil and shoved though the crowd waiting to head down into the heart of the base.

Behind me, both beret and cap shifted slightly on the cold floor.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The storm raged with ferocity Mother Nature could never accomplish herself, sand and rock clouding the sky and extinguishing the stars as the shockwave spread.

Slowly, the stars returned, along with the bright sphere of the moon, all of them given a slight tint by the crimson sphere that forced the land away from itself and blanketed all sound. I took a cautious step forward, then stopped and lifted the foot slowly, like someone prepared to examine all possibilities. My boot left no trace in the glasslike surface of the desert.

A hand fell onto my shoulder and I spun around to find myself face to face with Unit five, its blue eyes ablaze and inhuman.

But they were not focused on me, I realised as it gently pushed me aside and drew its knife, another Eva waited at the epicentre of the strange explosion, its armour shining silver in the moonlight, but it had an almost ethereal quality, its body flicked slightly like an old film played through a projector.

Its blood red gaze locked with mine, and the Nevada desert echoed with the screams of the dammed.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

My eyes snapped open and I sat bolt upright in my chair, the sudden movement drawing the eyes of those classmate that sat near me, before they looked away with disinterest, I wasn't the first person to fall asleep during history lessons.

I glanced at our teacher as he paced up and down at the front of the room, whatever point he was droning on about today lost behind the hammering of my heart against my ribs.

I took a deep breath and lent back in my chair, like many dreams, the details were slipping away now I was awake, I could remember a silent explosion, and screams but how, why and where they occurred were beyond my knowledge.

The lunch bell rang, and with the formalities finished, he left for the teacher's lounge Toji had already dumped his bag full of food onto his desk, grabbing something from the pile and shoving it into his mouth.

"Wow, that's got to be a record." Said a boy nearby to his friend, "From bell reining to eating in less then two seconds. Toji the Stomach wastes no time."

As I reached into my own satchel, I noticed the usual routine of Asuka crossing the room to stand expectantly in front of Shinji, arms folded. I looked away; she had been avoiding me all day, refusing to even meet my eye. I returned to rummaging for my sandwiches.

"You forgot?" she hissed, after the boy muttered something, her eyebrow twitched, "you'd better have a good reason for that."

"I was too busy last night, I had too much homework, and Ritsuko's been hounding us about those tests-,"

"Oh is that all?" Asuka snapped, "and that's the reason I have to go hungry today? You're really pushing it."

"Hey, I didn't have time to make myself lunch either-"

"Uh-oh." Toji interrupted, "The newly-weds are fighting!"

That caused widespread laughter, and his two victims to blush red for a second, their argument forgotten.

"Shut up!" they both shot back, causing more laughter from our classmates.

I coughed meaningfuly; a quiet sound in the uproar, but it caused a ripple of silence to spread though the students, with quick glances at where I was sat. Everyone knew that I hated anyone mocking my friends, and although I hadn't resorted to violence to stop it, no one wanted to be the one to push me to it.

My lunchbox skidded to a halt on Shinji's desk,

"Share that between you." I told them, "I'm not hungry."

Once I had escaped from the heat of the classroom and onto the relative coolness of the roof. I rubbed my forehead; the first twinges of a headache were coming on, and looked to the west.

Something terrible had just happened, and the aftershocks would soon be felt across the world.

"Hey there." Said a voice, "you look troubled."

I turned; a girl of about my age was sat on the railing a little further down the roof, looking like some meditating monk in the way she balanced on the thin metal. Her snow-white hair was cut to her shoulder, and kept blowing across her face with the wind. Green eyes shone at me from behind the thin curtain. I tried to place her but my memory, usually brilliant at putting names to faces when given enough time, turned up a blank under the approaching headache.

"Oh, hello." I replied, "Its nothing, I'll be fine in a little while."

She tilted her head, "Are you sure? Well, I won't press you. You Eva pilots have enough to deal with."

"Tell me about it." I said with a sigh, "But I can cope, don't worry about me."

"I'm Aoi, Aoi Sugiyama," she said, extending a hand, "Nice to finally talk to you."

"Likewise," I replied, taking her hand and shaking it, "I'm Tanus Harrab, although I guess you already knew that."

"Yeah, my dad tells me all sorts of things, although he shouldn't." she grinned, "Every one knows about the four pilots in our classroom, so he'll be alright."

"I doubt section two's going to kick down your door about it."

Aoi laughed, "my dad thinks they're hopeless, but then he says that about every section."

She dropped back onto the concrete and brushed down her uniform, "Well, I'd better get down to the school shop before Toji goes for seconds, I'll see you around Tanus."

"Yeah, be seeing you."

Once I had the rooftop to myself again, I realised that my headache had vanished, as had my worries about the future. In fact, I felt optimistic.

The mobile phone in my pocket began to ring, and I pulled it from my pocket and answered it, uncaring if this was a launch order or a guy trying to sell me insurance.

"Tanus," said Misato, sounding troubled, "I'm just calling to tell you of the harmonics test right after school, Ritsuko needs to do some work on the system, it'll take about an hour, could you pass that onto the others please?"

I agreed, and slipped the phone back into one of my many pockets, walking towards the stairs back into the building.

When I returned to the classroom, normality had resumed. The other students had formed their small groups for the lunch hour and I gave Shinji a tap on the shoulder as I passed him and Toji.

"There's a problem at Headquarters, the test will be an hour late, but we should head in as scheduled. Something's up and they might need us."

"You think there might be an attack?" Shinji whispered back, I shook my head slightly.

"I hope not. Misato seemed a bit hassled on the phone, and I can feel in my gut that there's something going on we can't see."

"Okay, I'll follow your lead."

I smiled and patted his shoulder before walking back to my desk, "That's what I say."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"There, it's dropped again." Ritsuko announced, leaning forward to point at another dot on the graph, behind her Misato was lent against her usual section of wall, "It's not a problem at the moment, but Shinji's sync score is fluctuating, something must have affected him during that last incident."

"He _is_ fine though, right?" Misato asked accusingly, turning her head from the four plugs below to lock gazes with the other woman, "You cleared him earlier."

"Nothing's showing up in his medical reports." Her friend replied firmly, "The problem's deeper than mere mental or physical changes, it's in his subconscious."

Misato sighed, and lent her head back on the metal wall, staring up at the lights above, "This makes it even harder to tell him about the new pilot."

"You still think the others will be okay with it?" Ritsuko removed her glasses and pocketed them, "we inform the candidate tomorrow."

"Yes." The director of operations appeared to consider something, then stood and crossed to the comm. terminal, "Hey Tanus, can you hear me?"

"Hmm? What?" On screen Tanus opened his eyes and looked up at her, Rei did the same, while Asuka ignored everyone, and instead chose to mutter something into the LCL. Misato swallowed as Shinji's eyes found hers.

"There are a few things I need to discuss with you after this test, do you mind hanging around for a while?"

"Not at all, ma'am, is there something wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothings wrong, I just need your help with something. I'll explain later."

"You're going ahead with the Eva escort idea?" Ritsuko asked once the link had closed, "why?"

"I'm not taking any chances," Misato replied, "I still haven't ruled out sabotage for the loss of Unit Four, and I think that perhaps our "biggest" Eva watching over Unit Three will discourage anyone with explosive intent. Besides, it gives you a chance to run the field trials on the same day, meaning it can be deployed much sooner."

"Desperate to bolster the defences? That's not like you."

"I know." Misato answered turning back to the screens, Tanus had returned to his previous state of stillness, triggering another ghost of a memory, "But that last Angel terrified me, and I know in my heart that there's far worse coming."

"Just this once I hope you're wrong." Ritsuko said, and then nodded, " Alright, we take the Shield with us to Matsushiro."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The cold steel of the long desk of briefing room four could be felt though the relatively thin material of my plugsuit, and I returned Misato's attention with curiosity, "So what it all comes down to is this: you want me to stand watch over the Unit Three activation experiment at Matsushiro when it arrives. Just in case an Angel goes after it, like they did for Unit Two."

"Yes, That's it exactly," My guardian replied with a smile, but her body language betrayed her, her lean against the lectern was just a little _too _casual, and her smile seemed a little forced.

"Now tell me the rest of it." I replied, folding my arms, "If it were that simple you would have told me during the test. You're hiding something."

Misato sighed, "Tanus, believe me, its nothing serious. It's just the matter of who'll be piloting the thing during the activation. It'll be the Fifth Child."

"So? Why hide that from the others? I doubt Rei would care, Asuka will just chew them out occasionally, and to be honest I'd feel better with less pressure on Shinji's shoulders after that last attack."

"That's the problem, Toji Suzuhara has been chosen as the fifth child."

Silence fell, leaving only the ambient humming of power lines in the walls and footsteps in the passageway outside to accompany our thoughts.

"Ah." I said after a while, "I see."

"I just can't bring myself to tell Shinji," Misato moaned, "He worries enough about you as it is, adding another of his close friends into the mix could-."

"-Cause him more stress in a combat situation." I finished, tapping the edge of my ID card on the metal desk beside me, "Just great. When will you inform Toji?"

"Tomorrow. We need to run a few basic tests with him before the Unit arrives. Providing he accepts."

I cupped my head in my hands, watching the briefing room monitor flick between different views of the geo-front; "Perhaps it's best for him if he doesn't know, at least for now. If Toji says no, we can forget all about it, if he says yes, we'll wait until he's trained up a bit."

My guardian looked relived, "That's a good idea, thanks."

The soles of my plugsuit squeaked as I stood, "Glad to help, and you can count on me for the op, I'll look after Toji for you. Good evening Major."

I saluted, and then left the room with thoughts whirling through my head.

First the dream, then the news of a new pilot being found just prior to their Eva's arrival. Could the two be related somehow?

I sighed, and flexed my shoulders as I walked, more questions were being added to the growing pile I already had, and I didn't even know where to start looking for answers.

Fighting the Angels just got a lot more complicated.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I kept a subtle eye on Toji all though the morning classes the next day, but whatever fears had prompted me to do so never arrived, he gave no sign that he knew what role he would play in humanity's future, and neither did Shinji.

Misato had said that he would be given a choice, but I doubted that Commander Ikari would take no as an answer.

The morning break came, without a black suited NERV officer to drag him off to Ritsuko, and he spent the precious few minutes it gave doing what he and Kensuke always did, selling pictures of their class mates to the highest bidder.

Today their stall was pitched near the tennis courts with some over of their cronies standing watch, my position on the main level beside the school buildings gave me an unrivalled view into the mass of students waiting to examine their latest offerings. If that was you're idea of a good time. Some of them seemed to be sweating more than the usual heat would allow for.

I shook my head dismissively and stood, Asuka had already raided the stand once in the past, and hence the sentries, apparently the severe beating she had given them had not persuaded them to give up their slightly disturbing business.

"Pilot Harrab, may I speak with you?"

A smile crossed my face, Rei was always so formal and it seemed that she simply couldn't get her head around the notion that she could address me any other way, so now I just accepted it.

"Yes, Rei. How can I help?" The blue haired girl had been absent yesterday, but whatever had been troubling her must have gone, as far as I could tell by her calm demeanour, her brow was also free of sweat.

She gave me that slight bow, " I will not take up much of your time, I am here to relay a message from Doctor Akagi, she will be arriving just prior to the lunch hour to inform Mr Suzuhara of his selection and she wishes for you to be present."

I groaned inwardly, "Right, did she say why?"

"No. Farewell."

With her task completed she turned, and walked away, not even glancing back as she rounded the corner of the main building and vanished.

My right hand twitched, so it was official, Toji Suzuhara would become the newest defender of Tokyo three, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do to stop it.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Ritsuko used the brief time before Toji's arrival to re-arrange the files on her lap, sparing a brief glance for Tanus stood in the corner opposite, beside the door so he would see anyone who entered before they saw him, although his casual fiddling with his ID card dispelled the illusion of his careful planning. More likely he just wanted to pass through this interview without being noticed.

A knock on the door disrupted her thoughts and Toji himself poked his head though the sliding door,

"Erm excuse me," the boy said, stepping through meekly, "I'm Toji Suzuhara, I was told to come here."

"You're Toji Suzuhara?" Ritsuko asked standing up, "I'm Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, I'm with NERV. You already know Tanus."

Toji spun around quickly, a slight snarl on his lips and although Tanus didn't move, his eyes narrowed slightly, reflecting the mutual hostility, the English boy had all the advantages; height, weight, and doubtless strength, but Toji faced up to him without any fear.

_"He's brave, that's good."_ Ritsuko thought, then coughed reminding Toji that she was in the room, the boy turned back around, aloud she said: "Do you remember the incident a few months back when you were forced to climb inside Unit One's entry plug?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm really sorry about that-," he began, but she stopped him with a raised hand,

"That doesn't matter, in fact that little event gave us quite a lot of data to process, to be blunt, we think you have what it takes to pilot a Unit of your own."

Toji just stared, "You want me to be an Eva pilot? No way!"

"Mr Suzuhara, I don't think I have to remind you of what is at stake, you saw what pilots like Tanus have to face and as you can see, he is suffering from no ill-effects."

"Yeah but he's crazy anyway, I saw what Shinji had to go through, you can forget it!"

He turned to go, forcing the door open and stepping out.

"Coward." Tanus snorted, causing Toji to stop, the Englishman was back to leaning against the wall, "I knew it."

"What did you say?" he growled, stepping closer to the other boy, "say it to my face."

"I called you a coward," Tanus's tone was calm, as if the matter was of no importance to him, "Instead of fighting the monsters that crippled your sister you're running away, what a good brother you are."

"I 'aint afraid." Toji snapped, "don't you dare say that!"

"Tanus, enough." Ritsuko snapped, Tanus stepped back obediently, "Toji, we need you, and your sister needs better treatment for her injures, it can't be helped, public hospitals just take too long to get what they need. We can help with that."

She held out the data folder,

"How about this, you agree to pilot, and we'll transfer your sister into our private hospital and give her the best medical care on the planet. No strings attached, you suddenly decide you don't want to pilot, you leave with all the pay you are due and your sister stays in the hospital until she's better regardless, is that acceptable?"

Toji was silent for a full minute, and then took the folder from her unresisting hand, "Okay, I'll do it for her."

"On behalf of the UN, I thank you." Ritsuko told him with a bow, "Now, let me just walk through what we need you to do once the Eva arrives…"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Ikari, I'm told that the fifth child has agreed and that Unit Five and its pilot will accompany him to the test site."

"Excellent, have Doctor Akagi run the standard tests and training procedures."

"Do you think it will work?"

"She assures me that it will, however, I have a back up plan in place, just to be certain."

"I still think playing the trump card this early is a mistake."

"Fuyutsuki, it is simply a test, plumbing the waters, as it were, we need to know how much time we have left."

"Very well."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	18. Dream with the Dead

Chapter 18: Dream with the Dead.

"The Matsushiro Test Team will be departing in ten minutes." The PA announced, echoing though NERV's Main Vehicle Hanger, "all assigned staff must report to their designated locations immediately."

Glancing up from my shakedown of Unit Fives systems, I noticed for the first time how many people and machines would be part of this group, although admittedly the mobile generator, basically a nuclear reactor on wheels, took up a good portion of the space, as did the area where my Eva was crouched at the rear of the bay. The presence at my shoulder radiated boredom and impatience, it knew it had been released from the hated restraints, but it was confused as to why it was still inside. I could feel its yearning for wide open spaces as a tingle at the back of my mind.

I dismissed it with a chuckle, imagining its delight when it realised it was going all the way to Matsushiro under its own power, a trip of several hours at the pace Misato had set to coincide with the arrival of Eva three, the reason I was going in the first place.

My CO had revealed that Unit Four had been lost in a massive explosion in the US and that she had lingering suspicions that an unknown group had deliberately trigged its destruction and that of its entire support group and the Second Branch of NERV, a fact that had left me stunned.

The check screens flashed green and vanished, and I heard the sudden intake of breath from below as Unit Five's eyes snapped open behind their view slit in its facial armour. Unit Five was the most visually imposing of all the Active Eva's with heavy armour across its entire body, and the reason it was walking to the distant research base was to allow word of its deployment to spread in front of it, hopefully discouraging any saboteurs from going anywhere near the Matsushiro facility. Sentries could be killed, but nothing could stop an Eva apart from N2 weapons, and even those had their doubters.

I picked up the pallet rifle that lay nearby and I quickly stripped it down and reassembled it, allowing my computers to handle the testing of its internal systems.

Satisfied, I returned it to its place and pulled my progressive knife free of its sheath, extending it to its full length and activating the diagnostic software, then shutting it down then returning it to my right pylon. The fact I needed to test the computers inside a knife was rather strange, but SOP was SOP. Besides, it made the presence happier.

"Okay," I muttered, "it's a dumb terrorist that messes with me, that's for sure."

The radio activated with a soft _freem_ noise, and the voice of Misato came though the speakers, distorted by the sound of engines starting and shouted orders. I could see her from here, standing on the footplate of her command car and a radio in her hand.

"Are you ready Tanus?" she asked, raising her voice to be heard over the clamour, "We're sending you out first. Connect to the mobile generator."

One hand retrieved the rifle, the other replaced the power cable that connected the base of my Eva's spine to the facility's own grid with the one resting on top of the bloated, multi-wheeled monstrosity that would trundle along in my wake, supplying me with power for the journey.

"Attention all personnel," Misato announced, this time over the PA, as my Eva stood, the top of my pylons scraping the roof, "Eva Unit Five is deploying, stand clear."

The entire wall opposite slowly parted into two segments, allowing natural light to pour into the room and onto the vehicles that were hurriedly moving out of the way as I marched out into the morning light with the generator following at my heel like an obedient pet.

Free of the electromagnetic jamming that prevented any spy satellites from scanning NERV Headquarters' layout, my targeting sensors activated as soon as I emerged from the sheer cliff face on the outskirts of Tokyo three, immediately receiving the IFF signals of a UN VTOL patrol and tracked them until they passed out of range.

"Okay, the convoy is assembled," Misato, informed me, "Lead the way."

"Roger." I replied and pressed the throttle forward; Unit Five stepped out to greet the dawn.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Asuka watched Unit five march westwards until it was out of sight behind the mountains that marked Tokyo three's inner defenses; A long line of supply trucks trailing along behind it.

She shuddered, unable to dispel the feeling of unease that had awoken her a few hours earlier and had drawn her to this spot.

"_This is stupid,"_ she thought, standing and brushing grass clippings from her dress, her watch told her she should have been at school half an hour ago, _"Why should I care where he goes?"_

_"Because you want him to care about you,"_ her own thoughts hissed back at her, _"but you won't admit it, even to yourself."_

_"Fuck off!"_ Asuka snapped, trying to push those thoughts back into the darkness, _"He's just a squad mate, a friend! Nothing more."_

_"Ha! Then what about the pleasure you felt when he touched your shoulder, the warmth at his kind words, your jealousy when you saw him talking to that Aoi girl, were they false?"_

Asuka picked up her satchel, and ran down the slope towards the city, her own mind mocking her as a coward, and secretly shielding her fear that Tanus was headed into trouble, and her regret of not being there to face it with him.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The heavy footsteps of a marching Eva carried through the mountain pass like distant thunder, and I mentally congratulated Misato for her plan. Aside from a couple of inquisitive news helicopters that I had to warn off with a wave of a giant hand, and then by shouldering my rifle when the pilot ignored me, the trip had been uneventful. The presence had enjoyed it.

Cresting a rise with the convoy stretching behind me on the highway, I caught sight of the distinctive white dome of Matsushiro Test Facility, nestled amongst the thick forests like a fallen bowl, beside it was a colossal airstrip with a couple of the low delta-winged Eva transport aircraft sitting on the pan, making the cluster of buildings nearby look grossly out of proportion.

It didn't look like it could host an Eva activation experiment, but that was only if you failed to realize that, like an iceberg, the majority of the base was below the surface.

I halted; holding my weapon with barrel pointed skywards in one hand while I activated my radio, "Major, we've arrived. No sign of Eva three yet."

There was a snort as Misato woke up, her snoring had provided some background noise during the trip, but its removal brought a sigh of relief from myself, and from the sound of it, Ritsuko and her driver too.

"Hmm, it should be here already. Ritsuko, contact the command centre."

A small NERV jeep was approaching, the lights on its roof flashing orange, the presence watched it with amusement, although why it was funny was beyond me.

Ritsuko came back on the line, "Okay, apparently there's some severe weather warnings in place over just off shore and C-22 Echo has to deviate around them. ETA is unknown at the moment."

"That's just great." Misato added, sarcasm dripping off the words, "So we just hang around while the Americans take the scenic route?"

"It looks that way, Tanus, you're to follow the jeep to a temporary staging area, just wait there while we get the rest of the group sorted out."

The jeep had been looping around my feet during this exchange, and shot off towards the landing strip at it's mention on the radio, speeding away like an enthusiastic beetle, suddenly the Eva's amusement made sense.

I took my place at the end of the runway, along with Misato's command car and the mobile generator, after a pause, the rest of the vehicles headed into the base proper.

"Where are they going?" I asked Ritsuko,

"Their task is to ensure the facilities are ready for an Eva," She explained, Misato had hopped out of the cab and stretched her arms above her head, "Its been a long time since the cage was used, and it probably needs a few upgrades."

Below Misato had finished stretching out the weariness of the journey and shouted something back at the truck.

"The Major says you can have a short break," Ritsuko added wearily, "Connect your computers to mine, then shutdown."

"Roger."

I grounded my rifle, made my Eva crouch; and ejected my entry plug, pausing before I popped the hatch. It was time to test Ritsuko's new invention. I hoped it worked; it was a long way to the tarmac.

In the past, removing a pilot from an Eva in operation had to be either a full ejection of the plug, or needed the lengthy construction of scaffolding to help the pilot reach the ground. The head of the technical division had discovered a better way during her lunch break.

The hatch opened and I stood up, allowing the breeze to play across my face before I swung myself over the side of the extruding entry plug, my foot finding the rubber hoop of the new powered winch. My weight set it in motion almost before I could grab a hold of the cable with a hand, and I sank to the ground at a gentle pace, the motor in the plug countering gravity's pull, much to my relief. I quickly disentangled myself before it decided to pull me back up again.

"Good isn't it?" Misato said, staring up at the bright red cable, "it sure saves time."

"If it's all the same to you, I'd prefer the scaffolding."

"Well, like it or not, you've just confirmed that it's ready to be used in the field, so you're stuck with it" Misato ruffled my hair, even though she had to reach up to do it.

"Bugger off."

"Careful, I could have you up on an insubordination change."

"Bugger off, ma'am." I corrected myself, laying myself down on the grass at the edge of the staging area.

"That's better." Misato dropped to the ground beside me and pushed her beret over her eyes, "We might as well get comfortable, we could be here a while."

I lent back to stare at the clouds; "We're dealing with Yanks, so there's no "Could" about it."

The major laughed.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Unit three arrived two hours later, the pilot receiving a verbal lashing from the Major and positive comments from Ritsuko, leaving the poor man uncertain of whether to be proud or ashamed of the care he had taken with the huge war machine. Being introduced to me must have confused him further.

Once the wandering Eva had been secured in it's temporary cage and a heavy guard posted around it and Unit Five, I was shown to my temporary quarters in the residential area.

It was a box, albeit a nice one, with shower unit just off to the side and a bed that seemed comfortable enough, but the fact it barely had space for me to drop my bag, let alone walk around it, made it the worst place I had to sleep ever.

"Oh, its only for a week." Misato dismissed my complaints with a wave of her hand; _she_ had been given the base commander's room, it actually had furnishings, "You'll be on patrol for most of the time anyway. Don't fret about it."

My first patrol was later that night, once I had been shown the layout of the base and potential places where large amounts of hostile troops could hide before assaulting the base, so I wasn't given the chance to use the room anyway. If any terrorists attacked, they would find themselves facing a pissed off Eva and a detachment of JSSDF tanks who would be wise to stay out of the way.

The JSSDF had also loaned NERV four Predator UAV's. These small, unmaned drones were placed under my command and sent to patrol the areas at the limit of my sensor range, the whine of their engines mixing with the birdsong the next morning as they were launched.

The machines managed to take my mind of my tiredness while Unit three was readied for Toji's arrival; I made them do little aerobatic stunts and pretend dogfights as the hours dragged on, until Ritsuko chewed me out and took control herself.

"The system is prepped and ready for full activation." She said a while later, she had talking to Misato, but I had left the radio on for something to listen to. Nothing had disturbed my little sentries since C-22 Echo had headed back to America and I was bored.

"Terrific. Lets get started." The Major replied, sounding as tired as I did, "Where's the Fifth child?"

"That was enthusiastic." Ritsuko said, the sarcasm clear as she scribbled data from the screens onto her clipboard, perhaps none of us had gotten any sleep, "He arrived just a few minutes ago, and he's getting suited up now."

"Let me now when he's ready."

"You do know that this unit will be assigned to your detachment once it passes its field trials, don't you?" Ritsuko seemed to be trying to provoke Misato into a more energetic attitude, while still remaining in the boundaries of professionalism.

"Exclusive control of Five Evas." Misato mused, turning to her friend with a sly grin, "No army in the world could stand against that power."

Ritsuko didn't answer; instead she lent forward to check a reading.

"Tanus, get back to your patrol," she barked, causing me to jump in my plug, "Move."

I closed the link and picked up my rifle again, grumbling to my self about physic women and replacing the box with camera feeds from all over the base. At least that made it seem like I was doing something.

"Fifth Child's entry plug has been inserted." The PA yelled across the tarmac as I passed the airstrip, "Main power connected."

I flicked my screen to a view of the cage, and the tar-black giant that slumbered there, its two eyes glowed white over bared teeth. It suited Toji perfectly.

"0.7 till full activation."

"Mind graph is stable."

I paused in mid stride, my eye had caught movement at the base of Unit three's neck.

"0.6"

The camera zoomed in under my prompting, panning over sleek armour plate as I searched for the culprit.

"0.5"

The camera reached its apex and started back, I switched to a different angle.

"0.4"

There, some kind of growth between two spinal plates, strange that the clean up crew's hadn't found it. I focused my sensors onto it and ran a scan.

"0.3"

Suddenly my sensors screamed an alarm, the "growth" was suddenly giving of huge amounts of heat and it climbed up the armour toward the entry plug. The other scans turned up a result that chilled my blood.

Blood type: blue.

"0.2"

"Contact! Contact!" I bellowed, my Eva breaking into a run and chambering a round in its rifle, "Angel in the cage, abort the test!"

Ritsuko's head snapped up, her lips already forming the "one" that would give the angel exactly what it wanted.

The Eva roared, pulled itself free from the restraints, and everything was consumed by fire.

The explosion was massive; the sheer power of the angel's expanding AT field demolishing the dome and leaving a gaping wound down to the deepest depths of the facility.

The presence reacted faster than thought, my own AT field flaring as it absorbed the energy of the shockwave and preventing us being blown away by its sheer power.

Something leapt out of the hole, something huge, and I could only stare as it arched through the sky above me like an acrobat, its spine twisting at impossible angles to ensure it landed on its feet before me on the debris strewn airstrip.

Unit three threw back its head, and bellowed a challenge.

My rifle snapped up, and I managed to fire off two shots at my enemy as it charged, and it was my enemy, it certainly had no qualms at calling me its foe and any lapses into morality could get me killed.

The angel gave no sign that my shots had affected it, allowing the high explosive shells to blow out chucks of flesh before it knocked me to the ground with a sweep of its arm.

I fell heavily, but managed to twist away as a black boot came down with enough force to shatter the runway, right where my head had been.

My knife was in hand and I slashed at the limb as I stood, then It was my turn to smash my opponent to the ground, pushing it's head into the tarmac with all my strength, and allowing myself to fall with it as my hands scrabbled for the entry plug. If I could remove that, Toji could be saved and I could gun down the Eva without guilt.

Unit three roared again, and twisted like a yoga instructor, it seemed to have no bones in its entire body, hammering its feet into my chest and sending me flying back into the ruins of the dome. Warning lights flicked into life on my HUD as I landed, informing me of structural failures across my armored skin.

I had barely enough time to spot my enemy far above before it landed on my shoulders and I was down again, its hand pressing my head down into the ground.

A burning pain shot through me then, it felt like acid was being poured all over my skull and I could only scream in pain as it spread.

Voices whispered in my mind, starting off softly, but soon becoming thousands of incoherent screams and the sheer wight of their mental anguish started to flood my head.

The presence took over, and slammed its elbow into the angel's face and forcing it to stagger backwards, I leapt back up, shaking my head to try and clear it. This angel was too much for me to handle alone.

"NERV Command, can you hear-" I began, but the angel revealed its other talent, stretching its arms across the distance between us and picking me up by the throat, I scratched at its arms desperately as it threw me against the ground like a doll, I felt something break with the impact, low power warnings flickering on my control column, the enhanced muscles that helped me move with such heavy armor dragging at me had failed and I could only kick feebly as the Angel shrank its arms back to their original size. I felt its grip tighten.

"My friends are out there," I gasped, "They know you're here now and they're going to kill you-,"

A sudden snapping noise, a burst of pain, then there was darkness.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"There' been an explosion at Matsushiro, damage level unknown."

"Send the Tenth rescue squad and Third battalion, we've got to handle this before the JSSDF gets involved."

"Recon Satellite twelve in enroute, ETA thirty seconds."

Commander Ikari emerged into his command centre amidst total chaos, techs running back and forth along the lower levels, only Fuyutsuki was calm, and that looked forced.

"Give me a status report." Ikari barked, "Verify the situation."

"Sir, we've just lost contact with Major Katsuragi and the test team," Hyuga yelled up to him, "we're picking up two signals from the site, one is confirmed to be Unit five, the other is unknown."

"We're picking up a transmission from Unit Five." Maya added, "Its in combat, I'm patching through the transmission now."

""My friends are out there," came the voice of Tanus, speaking with difficulty, like he was choking on something," They know you're here now and they're going to kill yo-,"

There was a grunt, a brutal crack, then the signal cut out.

"It seems that Unit five was insufficient." Fuyutsuki whispered into the younger man's ear, "We may have more time for the project then we thought."

"Go to first level alert." Ikari ordered, outwardly giving nothing away.

"Roger, NERV central is at level one alert."

"All Eva's are prepped and ready," Maya turned to face her commander, "Transport with commence in twenty."

"Deploy our forces at the outer perimeter defence line, the target must not get through."

"Roger."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

My eyes snapped open, adrenaline pumping though my veins as I stood, but the pain in my neck had gone, and I was no longer sat inside my plug, instead I was in an eerily familiar room back in London, specifically the lab my mother had used for her experiments.

Unit five was stood in place of the old machines that my memory told me should be beyond the windows, its armour was battered and missing in places, and its head was held at an odd angle, as if holding it straight was impossible.

"That the hell is going on?" I whispered, rubbing my throat, "Why am I here?"

"Because I brought you."

I froze, terrified to turn around, its one thing to search for something, but quite another to find it. That voice I hadn't heard in seven years.

"mo-, mother?" I asked, dreading and yearning for the reply she gave.

"Yes. I'm here, Treasure." Her hand brushed my cheek, yet I still couldn't turn around, "I'm sorry, but this was the only way I could protect you."

"What do you mean?"

"It will become clear in time. Until then, find it within yourself to forgive a mother's sins."

"Mother!" I yelled, spinning to face her, but finding the room empty, "I've waited for years, please-"

"You must go back," she whispered, "I've risked too much by doing this."

"Wait!"

"Farewell, my treasure. I'm depending on you."

"Just give me a few more minutes, I'm begging you," I pleaded searching for her, "Why must you leave me again?"

There was the sound of her laughter, musical and delicate, "You must, because someone is longing for you to return."

Her hand brushed my cheek again, as soft as a summer breeze,

"Give Asuka my love." She whispered in my ear.

Another burst of pain, the sensation of falling, then there was light.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	19. The Power of the Beast

Chapter 19: The Power of the Beast.

"He's really blown it this time, the idiot." Asuka muttered, pacing back and forth at the foot of my hospital bed, I watched her without comment, resisting the urge to tear off the bandages around my neck and upper body and scratch the skin beneath until it was raw. Empathic wounding was irritating, but it was a small price to pay for survival. Besides. I was glad she had at least decided to talk to me again

"Is he alright?" Rei asked from the chair beside my bed, she had her arm in a sling, her forehead was bound and gauze covered one cheek, if her wounds caused pain or irritation she gave no sign of it.

"He wasn't injured, if that's what you mean," Asuka replied with a snort, still pacing. She only had a plaster on a small gash on her jaw and a wrist support, like Rei she was still wearing her plugsuit, "the fool's probably think it was all some kind of crazy dream."

Rei looked puzzled, "A dream?"

"Yes, wonder girl, a dream. Don't tell me you don't dream either?"

"My dreams… are best left unspoken." The other girl replied after a pause, Asuka rolled her eyes.

"Are one of you going to fill me in on what happened?" I cut in, my injury and confinement to bed had made me irritable and gave my voice a sharper edge than I had intended, "Why's Shinji's been arrested?"

"Pilot Ikari has been classified as a traitor." Rei answered, "He threatened to use Unit one to destroy headquarters as consequence for Pilot Suzuhara's injuries. The Commander had no choice but to remove him forcefully from his entry plug."

"Meaning he's got criminal charges to face up to once he's recovered," Asuka finished, her arms folded, "Not even her can talk his way out of this one. He's finished as a pilot, I'll be surprised if he escapes without a prison sentence."

I groaned and covered my face with both hands, feeling the bandages cut into the skin around my eyes, "I should be the one in prison. The angel slipped past me, how I'll never know, but it did. This all happened because of my incompetence."

"Tech, you're starting to sound like the Hero now." Asuka growled, "Stop moping and act like a man."

"You were lucky to escape the conflict with minor injuries," Rei added, "Adding undue stress worrying about the cause will not help your recovery."

"Besides," Asuka continued, glaring as Rei suddenly stood, as if by some unspoken signal, gave me her usual respectful nod and left, "You weren't the one who disobeyed orders and tried to tear apart headquarters, the worst you'll get is a slap on the wrist for failing. If anything at all."

"Yeah, I, I guess you're right." I said, sighing wearily and lowering my hands, "At least he's out of danger."

"Can I ask you something?" Asuka dropped heavily onto the bed, "But why do you bother with him at all? He doesn't do anything to help you."

I frowned, remembering my first battle, "He's earned my respect, and… he reminds me of someone I once knew."

"Who?" Asuka asked, twisting the bandage on her arm casually. My brow furrowed, the answer had slipped away leaving a disturbing blank, in the aftermath of the last battle, my memory was filled with gaps I couldn't fill.

"Just someone, okay?" I snapped, angry with myself, not her, so I tried not to let it enter the words, "I'd rather not discuss it."

"So does that mean I'm not worthy of your respect?" She asked hotly, arms folded, "I thought we were a team, Tech."

"We are, Asuka." I replied, confused and surprised by her new attitude, she'd spent the past week ignoring me, now she was acting we had always been best friends, perhaps she was trying to bury the hatchet, "Hell, I got my ass handed to me when I tried to fight on my own, so knowing that you've got my back is a real comfort."

There was the hint of a smile on her face, but it quickly vanished as she ran her hand through her hair, "Yeah, well. Your electronic support is helpful too. I guess."

"I tag 'em, you bag 'em. That sounds like a team to me." I lent back and folded my arms behind my head, "Huh, that crack's gone, this is room 303, right?"

"You're sure you're okay?"

I looked up at her, "A few aches and twinges, but that's pretty normal for empathic injuries. They'll be gone in an hour or so. Don't worry about me."

Silence fell, I returned to examining the ceiling for my old friend the plaster crack, and Asuka fiddled with the bed sheet, twirling it around her fingers distantly.

"You know, you don't have to stay if you don't want to." I told her abruptly, "I'm glad you came, but Misato shouldn't force you to spend all your free time here."

Asuka looked surprised for a second, but like the smile it vanished behind her usual confident smirk, "Oh, yeah. I have things to do anyway, I'll see you around, Tech."

I remained staring at the ceiling without seeing it, I heard the door open and close, and my hand found the scar under my right eye.

"Mother…"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

It turned out that Unit five was the only Eva that suffered major damage from the thirteenth angel and its unwilling host, the power relay system that controlled the wire-muscles under the heavy armour plates had been contaminated when the angel had tried to invade my own Eva's neural link, resulting in its failure. According to the data gathered by Ritsuko, I had been lucky to survive; my Eva's internal batteries had failed just before the deathblow. She suspected that what ever had damaged the power relay must have damaged the entire power storage system; it would have to be replaced.

My hand rubbed my neck again, if I had still been synchronised when Unit Five's spinal column had snapped…

The other Eva's had suffered some damage as well, Unit Zero had lost an entire limb in the conflict and Units one and two both had a few buckled armour plates to show for their efforts. The thirteenth angel had gone down fighting.

The Eva was looking much better now, its head now sat properly on its shoulders and armour had been added to reinforce the exposed section of neck, enhancing the snake-like look of the whole machine.

Several armour plates still had a battered look, and Unit Five's eyes had that banked look I associated with it sleeping, two tiny points of blue light in the darkness of the helm. Something swirled in my memory, a sense of attachment to the great machine, and I put it down to the months of faithful service it had given me, Air force pilots often grew fond of their aircraft, every navy said that their ships had personalities, and even tank crews gave their armoured steeds nicknames. Why couldn't we with these new weapons of war?

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you."

I started to turn but was grabbed by Misato in a one armed hug, her sling not hindering her officer's stealth in the slightest.

"Misato," I gasped, "my neck-,"

She released me immediately, "Sorry! I'm just glad to see you're okay."

"I'm fine," I replied, loosening the bandages slightly with a hand, "I told I'd be back onto the active duty roster once Unit Five's repairs are complete."

My guardian looked surprised, "You're still going to pilot?"

"I'm in good enough shape, and the war's still raging, I'm going to see it through to the end, one way or another."

I turned back to the window and watched the repair work below.

"Shinji's been released from hospital," Misato said quietly, "I was just on my way to see him before he's taken up to the Commander. I don't think he'll be here much longer."

"I understand." I told her, "Ritsuko wants me here for the reactivation, so I can't be there to offer my support, could you tell him… tell him that I've got his back. He'll know what I'm talking about."

"Sure thing, kiddo." Misato replied, giving me a gentle punch on the shoulder.

I waited a while after she had gone before leaving the control room myself, Shinji would leave NERV soon, if his father didn't lock him up, and it would fall to Asuka, Rei and myself to defend humanity from the Angels.

I doubted anyone else would be stupid enough to want to join us.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The atmosphere in the canteen was filled with a sort of tension, the handful of men and women sat at various tables still spoke to one another as if nothing was wrong, but I could feel the unease that hovered over every head.

My usual table in the far corner was empty and I collapsed into the hard plastic chair with relief, my activation experiment had taken a while but had gone off without a hitch and I was just looking for a quiet place to gather my thoughts.

A mug tapped on my shoulder and I took the tea from Asuka with a nod of thanks, she sat in the chair opposite, turning it slightly so she could watch the other tables. The fact that we were both wearing our plugsuits caused several nervous glances from the other NERV members. With so many men and women lost at Matsushiro and only Ritsuko, Misato, and a handful of others returning from the ruins, the techs were seeking reassurance.

"So Shinji's finally run away, huh?" she said softly, taking a sip of her own tea, she must have detected the unease in the air too, as she moved with an unhurried air, like she was simply bored, "I knew he wasn't cut out for this job."

"That's because he wasn't." I replied, also giving the outward appearance of calm, "Shinji never wanted to fight in the first place. We're the warriors, he simply didn't fit."

Asuka seemed to be examining the tea in her cup with mild interest, "Then why did we fall first? If, like you say, if we are soldiers, trained for combat, and he's a reluctant stand in, why did he succeed where we couldn't?"

I shrugged as I dropped a sugar cube into my cup and swirled it around, "Perhaps it was simple luck, Kaji said he had a ton of it when I met him on the _Over The Rainbow_, and I've seen Shinji display his fair share of good fortune during battles. Our time in the spotlight will come Asuka, just wait and see."

The second child snorted and muttered something insulting about the boy into her mug, but quietly, it was important the other NERV personnel thought we were simply passing the time with idle chitchat, they trusted us with their protection, a protection that looked a little shaky at the moment, and a troubled pilot would only get them on edge.

They seemed to be buying our untroubled act, and the level of conversation rose slightly now that it had settled in; hopefully it would counter the rumours that undoubtedly had sprung up in the wake of our recent defeat.

I slouched in my seat, and reached up to pull my cap down over my eyes, then I remembered that I hadn't seen it since that conversation with Asuka in the lift.

_"She's probably forgotten all about it."_ I thought darkly, sparing the German a quick glance, she was watching the other patrons with her head propped up on one arm, _"don't read too much into her newly offered friendship. Its just that."_

A deck of cards hit the table between us.

"Up for a game of poker?" Asuka asked cheerfully, shifting her feet back under the table, "C'mon, its ages until our next training op and it'll be fun."

"You carry a deck of cards around in your plugsuit?" I stared at the rather grubby deck in astonishment as she shuffled and dealt, her nimble fingers making the red-backed cards move in a blur.

"So? You carry your tools around with you, at least these are more fun."

"I'm not a gambling man," I protested. "I take enough risks while piloting."

Asuka's eyes gleamed.

"Don't worry, the way I play isn't like gambling at all…"

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Half an hour later, I was saved from financial ruin by a flutter in the ceiling that caused the lights to sway slightly, a minor movement, but one that caught my attention in a instant, as a "Flutter" in a solid steel ceiling several miles underground and protected by over twenty levels of defense armor meant trouble.

Asuka had noticed my sudden change in attitude, her confident smirk had vanished and she looked up at the lights then back at me,

"What was that?"

The PA answered for me,

"An Angel has broken through the outer defence line! All personnel move to level one battle stations, Eva's Two and five, scramble to intercept."

We had jumped up from the chairs and were halfway across the room by the time the announcement had finished, in less than a minute we were slamming the hatches shut on our entry plugs and the situation could be verified.

"The intercept system is having no effect on the target," Misato told us, the rumble of the restraints mixing with the shudder of distant explosions, "Its primary attack seemed to be some kind of energy weapon, its cutting through our armour like it was paper. It'll breakthrough into the geo-front in a matter of moments, Deploy around the lake and suspension bridge, catch it in crossfire. Asuka, you have the lead, deploy as ordered."

"Roger that. I'll take it down."

"Tanus, back her up." Misato continued as Asuka shot towards the surface, "We'll send you weapons and support troops as they become available. Rei will join you as soon as she can."

"Unit Five, Your armour's structural integrity is only been restored to forty percent," Ritsuko added, "I recommend that you leave direct combat to Unit Two."

"Copy, I'll be careful."

The catapult released, and I was sent rocketing to meet our newest foe.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Asuka was already checking and stacking weapons when I arrived on the surface, sonic spears, halberds, missile launchers and pallet rifles arrayed around the red giant like a metallic forest.

More weapons where rising from the armoury, and my computers detected numerous detachments of UN and JSSDF troops setting up firing positions around the grey pyramid that marked mankind's last line of defence, even NERV's destroyer _Paladin_ was readying its weapons, raising them to their maximum elevation as the vibrations from the surface grew stronger.

"Don't worry, I can beat this Angel," Asuka told me confidently as I took my position at her right shoulder, "It's about time someone shows the commander how useless that boy was."

"Shinji wasn't so bad." I replied with a neutral tone while shouldering a missile launcher, this was the first time I had fought without the reassurance my friend was ready to help out if needed, I tried not to think of him as a deserter, "Targeting computers online and ESM is coming in from the MAGI. I'm ready to support you."

Asuka shrugged, a smirk crossing her face, "If you say so. But I'll bet everything I won from you that I can beat this one before wonder girl even shows up."

"Heh, in that case I'd gladly pay, it's not like I buy anything with my wages anyway-," my targeting computer gave a warning beep as it picked up the huge energy readings and AT field generated by the target. "Contact, Transferring fire control to Unit Two."

The ceiling blew out in a cloud of rubble, sending several buildings plummeting into the lake, Asuka raised her own weapon to her shoulder. Another beep from my console told me she had locked on.

"Here it comes." she said, then took a deep breath, "I'm, I'm glad you're here, Tech."

I gripped her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze, "So am I, lets show this Angel we're not to be trifled with."

Time slowed as the Angel descended, first its stumpy, dwarf-like legs, then the main body, the tell-tale gleam of its core visible on its stomach, then two flaps of skin that were possibly its attempts at having arms, then its face, sited between its massive shoulder blades, it stared down at us through empty eye sockets and over a snarling mouth.

Multiple weapons of various calibres opened up in unison, hammering into the slowly descending angel with enough of high explosive and armour piercing rounds to fight a world war. Yet still it drifted downwards at a leisurely pace, ignoring every impact against its skin.

"We're neutralising its AT field aren't we?" Asuka asked, discarding her empty rifle and picking up two more, firing them at full auto, explosions blossoming across the angel's skin.

"Its defensive field _is_ down, just keep firing." I replied, firing a rocket directly at that skull-like face, it didn't even flinch as the missile detonated.

"Die damn, you!" Asuka screamed, "I can't lose again, not again!"

"Asuka, our strategy isn't working," I snapped, sending another shot on its way. "We'll focus our attacks on one spot, aim for its head."

She snarled as she compiled, and the leering skull was shrouded in fire as that of the UN forces joined their shots to ours as their commanders caught on. My own anger rose after each shot failed to raise even a scratch, the presence at my shoulder did its best to sooth me, but my frustration was raising faster than it could handle.

The Angel touched the ground; its skin unmarked by the barrage of fire we had unleashed at it, giving no outward sign it had noticed the two hastily repaired Evas that stood in its path.

We were both blazing away at it now, our weapons a continuous roar of heavy weapons fire, when all of a sudden, the Angel's arms extend like folded up velvet until they brushed against the burnt and craterous ground around it's feet.

"What's it doing?" Asuka asked me, a tiny note of uncertainty and fear in her voice, I didn't answer, watching the swaying arms with dread.

They twitched, then leapt towards Unit Two like snakes, crossing the gap in a heart beat, they cut through her shoulder then snapped sideways, severing both of her arms and causing her to shriek in agony.

Time slowed. I watched as Asuka instinctively staggered backwards as blood sprayed from both shoulders like some kind of perverse fountain, the red machine moving like it was walking through treacle, and the angels blades retreated back into their host, stained blue with the blood of my ally.

"Asuka!"

_Kyoko! _

Rage poured through my body, flowing though my veins like fire, and for once I reached for the presence and found it in perfect agreement, merging its mind with mine to form a single creature of pure vengeance.

Asuka had only just clutched her own shoulders as the empathic wounding ravaged her body when I passed her at a run, Eva and pilot screaming in harmony as we charged.

There was no word to the challenge, our mutual rage, fear and sense of duty merging to form a bellow of hatred that was almost solid, and no thought to the action, we had gone beyond humanity now, and released the beast within.

The Angel turned to meet the charge, its eyes glowing, but the energy beam it had been charging hit the summit of the NERV pyramid instead as my fist slammed into its face and I felt the presence get behind the blow, adding more force to an already unstoppable attack.

My opponent moved backwards on its stumpy little legs, and I followed up with another punch, driving it further back with a flurry of strikes.

Unit Five was by no means a close combat machine, but rage and strength made up for speed and elegance, my normally fatally slow striking speed was offset but the angel's complete inability to defend itself up close.

I was dimly aware of voices through the radio, but they belonged in civilisation, in a time were words had meaning, the beast would not stop until either it or the enemy were dead.

The eyes flared again, and this time it connected, slamming into my chest and momentarily binding me, and forcing me back a couple of paces. The beast howled in frustration, it wanted blood.

Something blue shot through the edge of my field of vision as Unit Zero flashed past, an N2 mine in its sole remaining hand, and smashed it into the angel's core.

A new sun was temporary born in the geo-front, its light seeming to burn directly into my retina before the plug's system compensated, turning the screen almost pure black.

Instinct caused me to duck sideways, and I was rewarded with the sound of something slicing through the air by my head, and in that instant I knew the angel had survived and had tried to take a cheap shot while I was blinded.

My sight returned, showing the angel unharmed like I predicted and Unit Zero lying face down at its feet.

I wrestled control of the Eva from the beast, and reached down, keeping my eyes on the enemy, and pulled the Prototype Model's neck armour plate from its mount, freeing the entry plug to arc through the geo-front to safety.

The Angel met my stare then the eyes blazed again and I braced myself to the inevitable hit, but I wasn't its target, instead, it had aimed for the weakened armour beneath my feet, and I fell into the main shaft, rebounding of the side again and again, until I landed heavily on one of the armoured partitions, the bones in Unit Five's right arm crushed under its own weight.

The Angel was drifting downwards after me, and the beast struggled to stand and face it, but I had no strength left to give, it had drained out of me along with the feeling in my right arm.

One of the blades wrapped around my torso and threw me backwards through the wall.

NERV techs scrambled for safety as the two combatants came through the command centre's main screen, my green giant falling limp at the base of the command tower and the triumphant Angel towering over me.

Its eyes lit up again and I just had enough strength left to mutter a curse before Unit one came through the wall to my right and unconsciousness claimed me.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	20. Weakness of the Flesh

Chapter 20: Weakness of the Flesh

"Doctor Sugiyama, I hope you have an explanation for your actions."

"Commander, I did what I thought was best for the boy."

"Even though your good intentions made it impossible for him to pilot an Eva. That's a quarter of our defensive strength gone, not to mention thousands of yen's worth of training, doctor."

"Sir, amputating the arm was the only way I could save his life, the bones in his right arm had been smashed into hundreds of fragments, the blood vessels had been compromised, he was losing blood into the surrounding tissue-, there was nothing else I could do!"

"Can it be replaced?"

"What?"

"Can the arm be replaced?"

"Well, yes sir. Prosthetic limb technology has advanced quite a lot in recent years, but its not like swapping out a flat tire. It takes a long time, and he's just suffered a major shock, he needs time to recover mentally."

"Training a new pilot takes far longer, and his combat experience cannot be squandered. Therefore I want the Forth Child back inside his entry plug before the Unit One Salvage operation is complete."

"But, the therapy alone takes weeks, and the fifth child has been stuck in a bed since he lost his leg in the previous attack, surely he has priority for treatment?"

"He no longer has an Eva, nor as much combat experience as the Forth Child, we have to time to waste on superficial matters."

"I… yes sir. I'll prep the forth child for surgery immediately."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

I don't think the truth had dawned on my subconscious yet, and the horror of waking up to find a bandaged stump instead of a shoulder still hadn't fully left me either.

Toji lay in the bed to my left, thankfully asleep. When I had first woken up after the battle his taunts had made me want to leap up out of bed and throttle him with my remaining hand, and I would have if the nurse hadn't stopped me.

I raised that hand above my head and stared at it in the semi darkness, trying to contain the despair and helplessness that threatened to overwhelm me. I tried to think positively, I was left handed and besides, my years under the orange cap had taught me how to use both hands with the same degree of control anyway, so writing wasn't an issue, but there were no jobs in the world for one-armed apprentice technicians.

At least my legs were still working I thought smugly as I swung my feet off the bed and walked past Toji to stare out of the windows at the repair work underway in the geo-front, a huge network of scaffolding covered both the hole in the ceiling, and the one into the main shaft, the lights along their edges blazing as men and women hurried to cover NERV's new breaches, the fear of another attack looming over everyone's head.

The _Paladin's_ burnt out hulk had run aground on the shore on the lake, and now another, larger class of ship now sat in its old place, its many cannons watching the ceiling, following every sweep of the searchlights. I admired the crew's bravery; surely they knew that they couldn't do any serious damage. I hadn't.

Another breed of helplessness washed over me and I slumped against the glass, hitting it with my fist, I had paid a high price for nothing, my attack on the angel that had cost me my arm had done little except allow it even further into headquarters, it was sheer luck that Shinji had returned in time and killed it.

The angel's carcass was lying in its own pool of lights, barely recognisable as the beast that had caused so much damage not too long ago. Unit One had torn it apart.

The details of how it had been forced up to the surface hadn't been mentioned, Misato seeming even more harassed and angry then the norm during her rushed visit earlier, and I wasn't about to add to her troubles by pestering her.

The door behind me hissed open and Doctor Sugiyama entered, the man who had decided to remove the limb, his reflection in the glass looking surprised to see me walking about.

"Ah, good, I was just on my way to wake you." He said, "I have good news, the commander has approved the replacement of your arm, I' m here to explain the details of the procedure to you, so you can be back in action a soon as possible."

I stared at him as a fresh bolt of pain shot up my arm, or rather, where the arm had been, so only one word seemed to register, "Replacement?" I asked.

"Yes, when I was forced to remove your badly mangled limb, I was pleased to see that the nerve endings in your shoulder had sustained very little damage." He explained, watching the bandaged area intently, he seemed to have noticed my twitch, " The reason for your pain now is that those nerves are still transmitting signals, I intend to attach a prosthetic arm to them. Not one of those crude things you see on sports," he added quickly, seeing my shock, nothing got past this man, "but one that with a short period of pain will allow you to function as well as you had before the incident."

I frowned, my mind latching onto the unbelievable coincidence and examining it sceptically, Toji was in the same situation, the boy had told me, yet here I was, barely days after the battle, getting made ready to be flung back into it.

Despite my dislike of the boy, I wouldn't let him stagnate in here when he could be doing something useful; I felt that for Shinji's sudden willingness to fight he deserved to get back the friend his father had nearly killed, and the Commander's sudden favour made my fist itch.

"He gets his first." I said flatly, pointing at the sleeping boy, "First come, first served. Its only fair."

Doctor Sugiyama looked worried, "Well, he isn't fit for surgery yet, and a artificial leg more difficult to learn how to use. You have priority-"

"Toji gets his first." I repeated with a snarl, taking a step toward the man, he was taller then me, but I would be damned if I backed down now, "He's been here the longest. If I'm ready for surgery, he certainly is!"

The older man glanced out of the window at the devastation, then nodded,

"I'll-, I'll see what I can do." He stammered, somehow he managed to look relived and frightened at the same time, "Perhaps the Commander will be persuaded that having two pilots back is better than just one…"

He backed out of the room and I turned back to the window, my eyes finding the little strip of glass near the top of the pyramid that was Commander Ikari's office.

"I don't know why you've suddenly taken an interest in me commander," I muttered, "But I do know I won't be your puppet."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"Well, well. It seems the serpent has fangs after all. I can't say I'm surprised."

"Indeed, to be truthful I was expecting this outcome, it merely proves my theory."

"Unit One is free, what's the point of continuing with this sideshow, Ikari? Surely we don't need the trump card any longer. This injury gives us the perfect excuse to retire him without drawing suspicion."

"SEELE has more to lose at this point. They will not fold until the upper hand is ours completely, perhaps not even then, the trump card could been the one that wins us the game."

"I hope it'll work, this little upset has reduced our chances of success dramatically."

"However, the Forth Child's demands and the damage we have suffered offer some camouflage for our true intentions. We'll tell them we are Pilot Suzuhara to the back up roster in case of further recruitment problems."

"The old men are braying for our blood now that Unit One has an S2 engine, and now they're keeping a close eye on the others, I think they want to make sure that none of them "acquire" an independent power source."

"In that case we shall play meek and subservient far a while, give their egos a little stroking."

"Perhaps that'll buy us the time we need."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The mobile phone was a brief blur in the air before it hit the far wall with such force it exploded into its component pieces. They fell un-mourned amongst the fragments of the other victims of Asuka's wrath.

Her small bedroom was littered with torn magazines, broken cups, plates, and anything she had found within the boundaries of its walls, hoping to find something that she could use as a target for her frustration and anger.

_"How could I have possibly failed?"_ she thought, collapsing onto her unmade bed and pressing her face into the pillow, her fingers digging deep into the underside to tear out the stuffing, _"I couldn't do anything to stop it, me! The second child! But _he_ can just waltz on back and kill it easily. Its not fair!"_

She rolled over and clutched at her forehead head as she howled in frustration, even Misato was mocking her; her phone call to tell her that Rei was all right must have been carefully calculated to aggravate the better pilot, like she would give a shit about the commander's plaything.

The added bombshell that Tanus had lost an arm had pushed her over the edge; the result was now the smoking pile of plastic and circuitry by the door, the major dredging up her feelings of guilt with intent to wound by pointing out the results of her failures.

"They are all idiots anyway, I don't care." she hissed, staring up at the flickering light bulb in the ceiling, "Making his Eva take on an Angel in a CQB role? The fool was just asking for it."

The light bulb's answer was to flicker again, and then die with a soft pop, leaving her to lie in the lights the city cast through her open doorway, the ignorant masses celebrating another heavily edited victory that NERV's PR department had fed them. They were even bigger fools for that.

"_Is that true?"_ The darkness behind her eyes whispered to her, always in a mocking echo of her own voice, it was never far enough away these days, _"Perhaps he was trying to protect you, wouldn't you like that? Having a man willing to throw away his life for you standing by your side?" _it laughed, a chilling sound that Asuka hoped never emerged from her own lips, _"Or maybe it's the echo of your own empty desires rebounding back to you as false dreams. It would come as no great shock from someone so deluded."_

It drew her unwilling attention to the lights beyond the patio doors, _"They are cheering the Hero, not a useless nothing like you, someone so cowardly she hides from her own feelings, from the truth she so desperately seeks!"_

Pain cut through her like a knife, overwhelming her with such suddenness she cried out. Images filled her mind's eye, two women on a park bench watching her with concern, Unit Two's dismembered torso, an explosion of searing light, Unit Five falling into darkness, and a doll smiling at her as it spun slowly in a pool of light, the noose around it's neck gleaming as it caught the light.

_"Run and hide, little girl," _it giggled, its eyes mocking and dead behind a screen of filthy red hair,_" run and hide like you always do."_

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Doctor Sugiyama couldn't hide his revulsion as he lifted the prosthetic arm from the trolley beside him; its metal surface seemed slimy and unnatural under a touch so used to mending living tissue.

He turned back to the figure lying face down on the operating table, the newly installed shoulder joint mirrored its false companion's oily sheen, reflecting the light in a way natural flesh never could, waiting for the union that would allow this boy to back into the jaws of death.

For the fist time in his medical career, Doctor Kenji Sugiyama felt doubt. Was doing this actually helping the forth child? Or was it going to result in more pain in the future?

The urge to fling the limb away from him and claim that attaching it wasn't possible was immense, the fact he had to replace two of them in one day only made him feel worse. Why did the commander send children to fight time and time again, while choosing to ignore the mental and physical stress he piled onto their shoulders?

Every pilot had been under his eye at some point or another, whether for major surgery like this or a simply covering a cut with a plaster, he had been there to watch and notice the changes within each of them as the struggle to recover after each battle took something from inside them, leaving them shallow reflections of what they should be.

Like this arm.

"Are you alright doctor?"

He blinked, and looked into the concerned eyes of his assistant, the rest of the team stood behind her, all wearing green surgical masks, caps and gowns and watching him expectantly.

"Hmm, what? Oh, yes. Sorry, my mind was elsewhere. Shall we continue?"

_"Best to get the boy out of here as quickly as possible,"_ he thought to himself as they readied the semiconscious patient for the next part of the procedure, the attaching of the arm was easily done. It was attaching the nerves to their wire cousins that posed the most danger; the sudden current through the nerve endings could very well interfere with the rest of the nervous system.

A simple twist of the shoulder and upper arm caused Tanus to heave upwards with a scream, the sedative they had given him drowned under the sheer volume of pain. Several members of the team quickly grabbed a limb and restrained him as he struggled; but not fast enough, the new arm knocked Kenji back into the trolley before a surgeon pinned it to the metal.

Tanus struggled for a few seconds longer, then slumped back onto the table with tears running down his face. Then the drugs took affect and his head lolled, the new arm hanging down off the table and his lips forming a singe word.

"What did he say?" one of the team whispered to the man on the other side, "it sounded like he said something."

"I don't know, I don't think it was anything."

Kenji had heard, and waved away the hands of the nurse as he stood, watching the sleeping boy with a worried expression that he hoped was hidden by his mask.

"Don't worry." he whispered, "I'll bet your Lara is waiting for you."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Time had passed, pain had happened.

I think I preferred the pain, I though to myself as I watched Toji undergo learning how to walk on a leg he couldn't feel, the nurses praising him with every child-like step, at least the pain let me know I was still alive.

Currently it was contained within the steel of my shoulder, the flesh there still unused to the touch of metal and was constantly sending mixed messages back up to my brain, resulting in occasional spasms.

The dugs they had given me had made the days merge together into a single blur of therapy and adjustments in the complex depths of the arm's inner workings, each session releasing the now familiar fingers of pain to rage though my body as Doctor Sugiyama tried to find a sensitivity that mimicked my natural reaction time. Everyday I was given three coloured balls and told to juggle them, the doctor halting me at random intervals to unleash the pain again, and then the arm would speed up, the down time between command and compliance shrinking slightly each time.

But I still felt restless, surely there was something more important for me to do, something had kept Shinji busy since the battle, or else he would have at least inquired about how I was doing, I knew he was back, no-one else could have been behind the controls of Unit one when it came through the wall.

Rumour had its advantages, snippets of information had come in with the doctors and nurses, details about the last battle that had leaked out, such as the Unit One's refusal of Rei and the back up autopilot, something called a S2 engine and the freezing of the Eva in question, it all added up to an unpleasant picture.

Toji took another teetering step, then looked up at me in triumph. I acknowledged his achievement with a wave of my new hand; he had nothing to worry about, while I held humanity's future in my hands. His unit was still regenerating from the pounding Shinji had given it, and with every other unit also in the workshop demanding the tech's attention, the work would go even slower.

My roommate returned to sit on his bed with more confidence then when he had stood, Doctor Sugiyama immediately pulled off the front panel and began to fiddle around inside, Toji grimaced as he paid for the brief joy of movement.

I picked up the balls from were sat beside me on the covers and made them resume their daily journey from hand to hand, it was still disturbing to see a limb I couldn't feel obey the commands I sent, the oily sheen along its metal skin gave it an almost organic look, as if it was trying too hard to be the arm it had replaced.

The fingers moved with a soft, almost inaudible humming noise, something I knew would haunt me for the rest of my life, and I wondered if it was worth the price of being in the commander's debt.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Two more days passed, Toji's attitude and my own were still raising sparks when they collided, and the faint friendship that had formed during our mutual struggle to return to normal quick dissipated once we heard the rumour that we would be able to leave.

The day of our discharge couldn't come soon enough, He limped one way and I marched in the other, pulling on my work gloves to hide the silvery sheen of my new hand, I didn't want the pitying stares the medical staff gave me to spread.

My first task was to find out what the hell had happened to the other pilots, information about Rei was the easiest to gather; she had been discharged a few days after she had been admitted, her injures had been minor, and apparently she had gone home.

Asuka hadn't been seen since a rescue squad had helped her climb, uninjured, from her entry plug, and all attempts to contact her by the staff had been ignored. But no one I asked knew anything about Shinji's whereabouts.

My anger, penned up for so long behind iron self-control, threatened to break free entirely once I had finally stepped clear of the disinfectant smelling corridors after the last confused shrug given to me by a medical staff member. Like all modern hospitals, NERV's own private medical centre wasn't a single building, its campus took up quite a portion of the geo-front, safely tucked away near the wall and protected by armoured towers. Not a single person in that complex of hundreds could tell me anything new.

My self control could only last a finite amount of time and helping it erode further was Ritsuko's flat denial to speak to me, techs and command staff running about on private tasks, all refusing to met my eye or tell me what was going on because of "The Major's orders", Misato herself had seemed to have dropped off the face of the planet.

My body was a mix of anger, confusion, fatigue, pain and worry. All my life I had been under the constant supervision and instruction of someone, and they helped give my days some structure. Misato's isolation left me adrift.

I found Rei wandering the corridors but her habit of returning my attempts at conversation with polite and precise responses only make me more concerned about my friend. Shinji had always been rather quiet around her but they managed to turn their silences into something they could share. They cared for each other in a way neither of them could put into words

Perhaps the commander had placed him back in prison, I mused as I waited at the main station for a train home, it suited his father's mentality perfectly, and he didn't seem the type to simply forget a matter as severe as treason even if the accused had then proven their loyalty by pulling him from the fire.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Asuka didn't answer the apartment door when I hammered on its surface with a fist, my more civilised attempts to ring the doorbell had also fallen on deaf ears, but to someone who had spent most of his life fiddling with electronics this turned out to be only a minor obstacle.

The inside of Misato's apartment looked like it had been hit by a selective but highly destructive hurricane, everything that had managed to survive Shinji's tidying and remain on the sideboards and bookcases was covered in a fine layer of dust, and my friends room as immaculate as always I noticed as I passed, but everything owned by Asuka was smashed, torn, or had a battered look where they had collided with the wall.

What disturbed me the most was the silence, nothing moved as I crept past the debris of Asuka's wrath to her room. I carefully peered around her doorframe and ducked back as a book sailed through the air where my head had been and vanished into the darkness of the living room. Even when pissed, her accuracy and reaction time was inhuman.

"What the hell do you want?" she snapped, I could hear her moving in the darkened room, doubtless finding another projectile. I remained out of the line of fire to give my reply.

"I should think that was obvious. No one's seen you for nearly a month."

"Why should you care?" she snapped back, "Your buddy Shinji outperformed me again, why aren't you celebrating with him, Huh? You and him and wonder girl were quite the little crew before I showed up, all about success and teamwork. I was always the outsider, never quite up to your group standard. Why are you wasting your time on me now!?"

Her voice had risen to a hysterical scream, and I knew I had to act. With the precision given to me after months of training, I swung out of cover, defected her thrown lamp with an arm, spotted her in the gloom, crossed the distance between us and had grabbed her shoulders before she could find another missile.

She fought like a wild cat, breaking free of my grasp, spitting and scratching at me while cursing in three different languages, a swung fist hit me in the cheek and I felt my jaw move slightly with the impact. I had never realised how strong she was.

I allowed her to expend her energy hitting, insulting and raging at me, ignoring the pain that surged from my shoulder as she dislocated the new joint, weathering the storm until it was spent and the girl glared up at me with undisguised hatred. It had taken less than a minute.

My hand felt my face, and I wiped away the small trickle of blood from a cut lip, then with a grunt I returned the artificial limb to its proper place. Then I spoke.

"Finished?"

Asuka's chest was heaving as she fought for breath, but her gaze had slipped to my right arm and now her face was a mask of guilt and revulsion.

My glove had slipped from the metal surface during the exchange, and now the sliver arm gleamed in the twilight, her eyes followed it as I raised it level with her face and held it there for her inspection.

"This is how much I care." I told her softly as I flexed the fingers, Asuka shuddered, the hum of the servos was easily heard in the silence, "We've all suffered to greater or lesser extent after the attack, don't think that its all been heaped on you alone."

"You don't understand." Asuka murmured, averting her eyes from the machine before her, "I felt so helpless, me! The Pilot who's been behind the controls for ten years! Yet that bastard can do what I can't so easily!"

"So he manages to finish a task you couldn't, Whoop-de-fucking-do!" I snapped, throwing my hands in the air, "Why does who lands the killing blow matter so much to you? As a result, Shinji's vanished, Rei's back in her bandages and I see you've still got both your arms. I'd call that a win, personally."

"Don't you dare mock me tech." She growled, "Don't you dare."

"Hey, you're the one who locked herself away and sulked for a month. I don't think you've got the right to tell me to do anything."

I turned and walked away, pausing in the door to pull a small box from a pocket. I placed it on her dressing table.

"Here, I got this in town earlier. As I'm "wasting my time" talking to you, perhaps a physical reminder of faith will get through to you."

I marched from the apartment, walking out into the night shrouded forests until my I had left my frustration and the building far behind. Then I sat on a fallen tree and allowed my tears to flow.

"Tanus, you're the world's biggest fool." I whispered, while far above the stars appeared in the uncaring sky.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The fifth cage was silent, the hordes of techs that had attacked the network of wires and experimental equipment to the neck and spinal cord of the purple beast that slept in the cold embrace of the restraints, they had all gone to secondary tasks as the operation to save the life of the pilot entered it's final stages.

No one noticed Rei enter, the collective attention of the men and women that would be monitoring this complex task was focused elsewhere for a moment. But that moment was all she needed.

She calmly stood before the Eva's core, staring at it with her head on one side as if listening to some inner voice, and then she stepped forward and placed her palms on the disturbingly warm surface.

Two minds met, conversed, reached an agreement, and then separated, all in the space of several seconds. By the time the techs returned, there was no sign Rei had even been there.

A thin smile crossed her pale face, as she walked aimlessly down a corridor several floors down, everything would be all right, Unit one had accepted her terms.

Ikari was coming home.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


	21. Sins of the mother

Chapter 21: Sins of the Mother.

Hikari was relived to see that when she entered the classroom at the start of the new week, the five Eva pilots were back in their usual places. The past month had been worrying, even though the news stations had said that the attack had been swiftly repulsed with minimal casualties, knowing that those responsible for the city's defence now had time to return to classes was a boost to her feelings of security.

There was something different about them however, Toji had caught her eye first with his limp and guarded expression, and then she noticed Tanus's sudden urge to wear his orange jacket and thick work gloves, even during the hottest part of the day.

Asuka had also changed; her temper had always been close to the surface, but now she seemed ready to lash out at any lewd comment or too long stares by the male classmates with unusual force, while at the same time treating the female members with cold disdain.

Her friend was sat at her desk and staring out the window at nothing in particular while around them the other students chattered, enjoying the break before their next lesson, but the pilots seemed to repel anyone from coming near them, not by any obvious means, except Asuka's, and they sat in their own wells of silence. Hikari tried to fill hers.

"That's a nice necklace," she said, pointing at the slender crucifix on a silver chain that the German girl was idly fidgeting with, "It really suits you."

Asuka blinked and looked down at the silver cross like she had never seen it before, then she hurriedly shoved it back out of sight beneath her uniform.

"Thanks." She replied stiffly, "I got it a few days ago."

Her blue eyes flashed towards Tanus at the back of the room, Aoi had turned in her seat and the two of them were talking in low voices, before she suddenly started to rummage in the depths of her bag and muttering angrily in German, derailing the conversation completely.

Hikari glanced between the two foreign students thoughtfully, and now that she knew what to look for, she noticed that Rei and Shinji were acting differently around each other. Each pilot was cautiously watching all of the others, even Toji, and all were as twitchy as cats in a dog run.

Something was happening in their ranks and Hikari shuddered, struck by an unusual sense of foreboding.

"_But, they're back,"_ she thought, _"There can't be a problem if they're back at school, right? They'd be training or whatever it is they do down there._

"_They can't fall apart now."_

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Fuyutsuki opened his eyes, wincing at the bruise on the side of his head, and wasn't surprised to she himself in a dark, featureless room. The men who had jumped him didn't have the look of men who wanted a simple chat.

It was a shame that their attempts at secrecy were wasted; he knew precisely where he was and why he was there.

"Do all your invitations always have to be so… violent, chairman?" he asked the apparently empty room, a heavily encrypted voice answered immediately.

"There are several matters we need to discuss away from Commander Ikari's hearing, the nature of the "Invitation" was necessary."

A back pillar snapped into existence in front of him, lit from below by the holographic projector, several more appeared in a circle around their prisoner, all individually numbered and labeled with "Sound Only."

"You haven't changed a bit, "Chairman,"" the old man said with a smile, "How this affects me is irrelevant. I'm not the one driving the bus."

"The subject in question has already become an active issue," said another pillar; even the encryption couldn't hide his Russian accent, "Thus, these measures were unavoidable."

"Please understand our situation." Said a third soothingly, Fuyutsuki snorted.

"Oh, now this is surprising," he said sarcastically, "Not the committee, but the all-seeing SEELE. It has been a long time. Any new changes to the scenario I should know about?"

"Creating a new god was not one of them!" a new pillar snapped back at him, "It is time you and the Commander were brought to heel!"

"We hope that you will co-operate with us, Professor Fuyutsuki."

_"Professed Fuyutsuki?" _he thought with a tight smile, _"Now there's a title I haven't heard in a while."_

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sixteen years ago,

Metaphysical Biology Research Room 1

Kyoto University.

Fuyutsuki flipped through a few pages on his clipboard thoughtfully as he waited for his guest to make herself comfortable on the chair opposite, politely moving aside a few ancient coffee cups as she placed her folders onto the old wooden table. He smiled at her and indicated the papers in his hand.

"I read though this report last night," he said, "there are a few things that need a bit more clarification, but all in all it's really very intriguing."

"Thank you sir." Said the brown haired woman in the chair opposite, giving him a slight bow, "I worked hard on it."

"It shows. Your full name is Yui Ikari right?"

"Yes sir."

"Ah yes, can't read my own writing," he scrawled the correction on the uppermost piece of paper, "So, what are your career plans? Are you going into corporate research, or perhaps join a university's science team?"

"I haven't decided yet." Yui replied with a shrug and calm smile, "Although I may just get married and start a family, it'll be a lot less hassle. Assuming I meet the right person of course."

She laughed and Fuyutsuki found himself laughing with her, an event that the rest of the staff thought would be worth marking on their calendar. The dean especially thought of him as antisocial.

"Well, we'd better make the best of you while you're still here." He said and lent back in his chair to bellow down the corridor, "Lara, Kyoko, get in here!"

There was the sound of footsteps and a pair of woman not much older than Yui herself joined them in the cluttered laboratory,

One wore her jet-black hair gathered behind her head in a thick braid that fell to the small of her back, and she peered at the professor over a pair of stylish glasses. She wore her lab coat like an afterthought.

The women behind her didn't wear glasses, but had the same approach to lab coats, preferring to allow her clothes to show rather than the dull off-white fabric. Her hair was flame red and fell to her shoulders. Both women had pots of instant ramen and guilty expressions.

"Yes, O Wise One?" said the woman with glasses, giving her noodles a stir with a fork.

"This is Yui Ikari, she'll be joining our team for a while." He said, nodding across the table, "Yui, this is Lara Sharpe and Kyoto Zeppelin Soryu, they're my other research assistants, they'll show you around."

Lara gave her a child-like wave with her free hand, "I'm guessing you're the one who wrote that interesting paper on modern genetics? Fascinating stuff, Kyoko and I were arguing about it all morning."

"The two of you _should_ have been monitoring that experiment I set up in booth twelve." Fuyutsuki added dryly, but Kyoko waved his comment away, clearly indicating that experiments like his were ten a penny, while a good thesis was worth far more attention.

Yui gave a quiet chuckle, feeling the mutual respect between these three scientists and accepting their welcoming praise of her work.

"Somehow I know I'm going to enjoy working with you." she said

"That's if you can actually get them to do any work." Fuyutsuki commented dryly, Lara stuck out her tongue at him.

"Says the man who surrounds himself with scientist girls half his age." Kyoko added, in a thick German accent, pressing herself against him playfully and tracing a circle on his chest with her index finger, "He's just a dirty old man at heart. He turned down Turner when he applied for the position, because he was a guy I'll bet!"

"Alright, that's enough, go and bother someone else." He replied with a smile that removed any sting from the words and shooed them out of the door, "Perhaps now I'll finally be able to get some work done."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Present day,

Undisclosed location.

Fuyutsuki blinked, emerging from the mists of time and back into the room of obelisks, their menacing air was dispelled by the fact he was relatively certain that he knew most of them.

"_Let them play secret society games,"_ he thought to himself, _"they can't do anything to me."_

"By taking an S2 Unit into itself, Evangelion Unit One has become a being of immense power," one of the pillars interjected, they seemed to have forgotten about their prisoner for the moment. "A living god that we created, what blasphemy!"

"_We_ were not the ones responsible." Said another, "I suspect it was his plan all along."

"Every precaution must be made to prevent the others from gaining S2 engines themselves," said a third, "Gendo Ikari cannot be trusted with that kind of power."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Sixteen years ago,

Metaphysical Biology Research Room 1

Kyoto University.

"Gendo Rokubungi?" Fuyutsuki shifted the phone's handset to the other shoulder, "I've heard the name before but I've never met him personally. I've just heard a lot of, well, _unpleasant_ rumours about the man, why-? What? I've been appointed as his advisor? And he's currently in jail?"

He ran his hand down his face and groaned. It must be Thursday; he could never get the hang of Thursdays. The voice in his ear muttered a question.

"No, I'll come bail him out."

He dropped the phone onto the cluttered expanse of his desks and glanced up at the three women at their workstations, in a few short months they had already formed an easy friendship and were plotting together to make his life hell.

"I'm going down to the police station to pick up the latest actor in this farce I call my job." He announced, the three of them turning to face him as if they had only just started taking an interest, they didn't fool him in the least, "I shouldn't be too long, but I expect a full report of the experiment when I get back."

He had just stepped out the door when he heard Kyoto say something in German, followed by Yui's embarrassed protest and Lara's laughter. He had to admit he was starting to really enjoy his work, Yui's keen mind and natural talent where decisive in dozens of breakthroughs in the short time since she arrived, and she backed it up with modesty and a caring spirit. She never claimed her triumphs were solely her own work, protesting that Lara had done this, or Kyoko had provided that equipment, or that his own guidance had made it possible.

Gendo Rokubungi was sat calmly in one of the cells by the time Fuyutsuki arrived to take custody of him. His face was bruised and one arm was in a sling, yet he still managed to give the impression that sitting there had been his choice and the matter of the locks and policemen where just a minor detail

The younger man kept silent as they collected his belongings from the front desk and the two of them stepped out into the autumn sunshine.

"I've heard a lot of interesting things about you Professor Fuyutsuki," he said suddenly, falling into step behind him, "I've wanted to meet you for some time."

"There are better ways to introduce yourself," said Fuyutsuki stiffly, not turning around, "Getting drunk and starting a fight isn't one of them."

"I didn't get a chance to say anything before they jumped me," the man replied calmly, "I was just a target of opportunity, but it comes as no surprise. I'm quite familiar with being hated by others."

"Your problems are none of my concern."

"Just as I expected the great Professor Fuyutsuki to be, calm, efficient and controlled."

"Well, you'd better follow my example if you want to get through the semester, don't think that just because I'm your guidance councillor it means I'll let you get away with anything."

Gendo nodded, "Yes, Yui told me as much. Don't worry, I'll be no trouble."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Kyoto University Campus

Two weeks later.

It was a crisp autumn morning, the kind he had always enjoyed, with leaves covering the pathways and lawns of the campus and the soil was still damp with the nights rain, when Yui let slip her recent encounters with the male member of the research team. For a few seconds Fuyutsuki could only stare at the woman in shock, falling leaves piling up on his hat.

"You're serious?" he asked when he could speak again, "I never would have thought that you and that rouge bull would have anything in common."

"He's really quite gentle," she added quickly, as if to excuse her boyfriend's other faults, "no-one else ever tries to get to know him like I do, that's why he doesn't have many friends. You should try it sir."

"In this case, ignorance truly is bliss."

"Lucky you." Said Lara irritably; "She won't talk to us about anything else."

"You're just annoyed that your handsome Colonel hadn't been to see you in weeks." Kyoko interrupted, jabbing her elbow into her friend's ribs and grinning evilly, "Although I will admit that friend of his was rather pleasing on the eyes."

"Kyoko!" Lara gasped, looking shocked, "I can't believe you, eyeing up that Stonewall boy while your husband's waiting for you back home."

The German woman shrugged, "I'm allowed to look, and I don't doubt that he's admiring the girls back home, but I love him and trust him. Looking's all that'll happen."

"When are you heading back home?" Yui asked her, nodding her thanks as Fuyutsuki held open the door to the science block for them, "You must miss him."

"Ja, I do, but we both understand the importance of a strong mind. This is the only facility that hosts my preferred form of education, I will see out the year first."

"What about you Professor?" Lara asked as she hung up her coat, "Do you have a special someone?"

Fuyutsuki coughed, and avoided looking at Yui when he replied, "I guess you could say I'm married to my work."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

"_It would be two long years before I would see the three of them again. Second impact and the following wars that shook humanity down to its foundations made keeping track of anyone, even someone right in front of you, was impossible._

_"The first hint I had that any of them had survived was when I met the newly married Gendo Ikari on the UN research ship that had been sent to investigate the tragedy._

_"Even then I still had my doubts about the man, his all-knowing smile and confident swagger was out of place on a ship sailing over the graves of millions of people, the fact that he had been transferred away from Antarctica the day before it went to hell made me hate him even more. I don't believe in coincidences. _

_"When the UN announced that it had all been due to a freak asteroid collision, I lost all faith in the organisation, they and a man called Kiel were deliberately concealing the truth for their own ends. But they didn't know that I had kept my own copies of the survey team's findings, driven to hide them by my mistrust. Paranoia can be a useful tool._

_"I had been the only man on that ship not in SEELE's pocket, and now I was the only one who could bring them down._

_"Even if my former students had to fall with them."_

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

The ever present summer sun blazed high in another cloudless sky as Fuyutsuki stepped out of the cab in front of a strangely subdued-looking building nestled in the mountains near Lake Ashino, and he gripped the briefcase so tightly his knuckles went white.

This was the day he would topple the mysterious organisation that ruled mankind from the shadows.

A pair of guards on the gate resisted his entry until he announced that he was here to speak with their director and after they searched him for weapons, taking his mobile phone and watch for reasons they kept to themselves, he was let into the compound.

"Professor Fuyutsuki. Now this is a surprise." Said a voice,

He looked up and his eyes widened with disbelief as they fell on Lara's delicate features, she was sat on the steps above him, a cigarette in her hand. Apart from the ring on her finger and her necklace, she looked exactly the same as she did two years ago. Even her glasses were identical to those in the picture his memory supplied.

"Yes." He replied flatly as she took a pull on the small cylinder, and was about to say more when a second figure stepped straight out of the past and walked towards him.

"Lara, I can't get the DNA profiler to accept the new string," Yui said, her attention on the clipboard in her hands, "Could I get you to pop down and speak to Doctor Ak-,"

She looked up; saw the man frozen on the steps and her voice died away. For a second the two of them just stared at each other while Lara crushed the remains of her cigarette under her shoe, then Yui ducked her head in a polite bow.

"It's been a long time." She told him once her voice returned,

"Indeed it has. Please excuse me, but I have an appointment with your husband."

He pushed past her and into the coolness of the building, the reflection on the doors allowed him to see his old students watching him with worried frowns, and then he pushed all thought of them from his mind.

He must bring these people before the courts, make them pay for their crimes, personal feelings would only get in the way.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

One thing had remained constant throughout second impact and beyond into the new world it had forged, was Gendo Ikari's complete control over his emotions while his former teacher raged at him from across the desk. His accusations not raising a flicker of guilt across his face, that arrogant smirk still remained.

Even the ace up his sleeve, the treasured copies of his own findings only caused mild surprise to cross the other man's face.

"These were supposed to have been destroyed." Gendo said, calmly shuffling through them, Fuyutsuki snorted.

"Sloppy housework. I looked into your estate as well. I know that raising a child and educating him is expensive, but isn't your salary it a bit much for a civil servant?"

Gendo stood up and held out the files for the other man to take, "Very impressive work Professor, you should have been teaching economics, or perhaps law, you make a very convincing case."

"I'm going to make it stick." Fuyutsuki swore, "When I go public with this, no lawyer in the world would defend your actions here."

The other man shrugged, and offered the files back as he stood, "As you wish, but first, I want to show you something. Perhaps it will change your mind."

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

_"It did. I tried to resist, but the knowledge promised to me by the secrets deep within the bowls of that facility corrupted me, and I accepted a place as his right-hand man willingly, throwing every effort into furthering his aims._

_"Perhaps I had never truly had the will to oppose them, my case against the shadowy ruling council seemed flimsy to me once I saw the military, financial, and scientific power at their command in this one facility. _

_"Berlin, Nevada, Matsushiro, Beijing, London, Munich, Paris, and a dozen other sites across the planet were poring their resources into the hidden cavern. The first copies of the giant of light were born shortly after, equipped and configured according to the will of their designer, Yui._

_"But like any monster, the first life they claimed was that of their creator."_

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

GEHERIN Central Headquarters

Geo-Front Surface.

Director Ikari's office.

"Ikari, I understand your grief, but you can't just vanish from your duties for a whole week," Fuyutsuki explained, turning from the huge window that overlooked the entire geo-front to face the younger man sat at the simple metal desk, and saw the change in him. Gone were the arrogance and the confidence, replaced with a cold determination that shone out from behind the glasses.

"I know." Ikari glanced at Lara who was stood at his shoulder, then continued. "But I have news, just a few hours ago the committee gave us the green light for our latest project."

Fuyutsuki's eyes widened and he glanced between the two of them in disbelief, "You mean its been approved?"

Lara nodded, "Director Ikari has explained the details, and I believe it can succeed, although there is much that we have to do before we can truly embark on the path to becoming one with God."

"You support it, Doctor Sharpe?" Fuyutsuki's surprise only increased at her statement, "Doesn't it violate every tenant of your faith?"

"I lost my faith long ago, Professor," she told him flatly, "And I have my own reasons for wanting the project's success."

"Well, that's good news I suppose." Fuyutsuki looked uncertain for a moment then shook it off, "Well, I'd better get back to work."

The two younger scientists watched him walk towards the door and open it, but it was only after it had closed that they spoke again.

"And what of your project, doctor?" Gendo asked her, "anything to report?"

"Physical growth acceleration has ceased, from this point onwards she'll age as normal. " Lara replied, still not meeting his eye, "The first should be ready to come out in a month or so, there's nothing left for me to do except decide on a name."

"A name? Surely that's not necessary."

"She's still a human being, Gendo, a separate entity no matter how she was born. If you gave me more time I could offset the personality imbalance-, "

"No. Her pilot training will need to begin immediately. I cannot afford the year you demand."

Lara sighed and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, "Then you'll get a submissive, loyal pilot. But without a developed human mind to shield her-, it's likely she'll encounter problems."

"She will adapt and learn. I know she will."

"What's this sin worth when stacked up with countless more?" the Englishwoman agreed. "All right, I'll check up on her before I head back to Berlin. Good day to you."

"Doctor." He said suddenly as she neared the door, "Give her the name… Rei. Rei Ayanami."

Lara stared at him for a second, and then gave him a curt nod, leaving him alone with the shadows.

vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv


End file.
